Moral Panics

Erich Goode is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His previous books include The Marijuana Smokers (1970), Collective Behavior (1992), Deviance in Everyday Life (2002), Extreme Deviance (edited with Angus Vail, 2008), Drugs in American Society (7th edition, 2008), and Deviant Behavior (8th edition, 2008). Nachman Ben-Yehuda is Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His publications include Deviance and Moral Boundaries (1985), The Politics and Morality of Deviance (1990), Political Assassinations by Jews: A Rhetorical Device for Justice (1993), The Masada Myth (1995), Betrayals and Treason (2001), and Selective Remembrances (edited with Philip Kohl and Mara Kozelsky, 2007).

• Preface and Acknowledgements viiiPrologue 11 Enter the Moral Panic 202 The Moral Panic: An Introduction 343 Three Theories of the Moral Panic 514 The Moral Panic Meets Its Critics 735 The Media Ignite and Embody the Moral Panic 886 Deviance, Morality, and Criminal Law 1097 Collective Behavior 1298 Social Movements 1419 Social Problems 15010 The Renaissance Witch Craze 16811 Drug Abuse Panics 19712 The Feminist Anti-Pornography Crusade 218Epilogue: The Demise and Institutionalization of the Moral Panic 245References 251Author Index 270Subject Index 275

"This close reading of the facts behind a media story are the essence of Goode and Ben-Yehuda's work. They have taken the time and trouble to try and see what is a moral panic and what is true." (Metapsychology, March 2010)