Revisiting Moral Panics: (Moral Panics in Theory and Practice)

We live in a world that is increasingly characterised as full of risk, danger and threat. Every day a new social issue emerges to assail our sensibilities and consciences. Drawing on the popular Economic Social and Research Council (ESRC) seminar series, this book examines these social issues and anxieties, and the solutions to them, through the concept of moral panic. With a commentary by Charles Critcher and contributions from both well-known and up-and-coming researchers and practitioners, this is a stimulating and innovative overview of moral panic ideas, which will be an essential resource.

Table of Contents:
Commentary - Charles Critcher; Preface - Viviene E. Cree, Gary Clapton & Mark Smith; Part 1: Gender and the Family; Introduction - Viviene E. Cree; 1. Women and children first. Contemporary Italian moral panics and the role of the state - Morena Tartari; 2. Myths, monsters and legends: negotiating an acceptable working class femininity in a marginalised and demonised Welsh locale - Dawn Mannay; 3. Making a moral panic - ‘Feral families’, family violence and welfare reforms in New Zealand: Doing the work of the state? - Liz Beddoe; 4. The wrong type of mother: moral panic and teenage parenting - Sally Brown; 5. Amoral panic: The fall of the autonomous family and the rise of ‘early intervention’ - Stuart Waiton; Afterword - Maggie Mellon; Part II: Young People, Children and Childhood; Introduction - Gary Clapton; 1. Child protection and moral panic - Ian Butler; 2. Unearthing Melodrama: Moral Panic Theory and the Enduring Characterisation of Child Trafficking - Joanne Westwood; 3. Lost childhood? - Kay Tisdall; 4. Internet risk research and child sexual abuse: a misdirected moral panic? - Ethel Quayle; 5. The Rotherham Abuse Scandal - Anneke Meyer; Afterword - Mark Hardy; Part III The State, Government and Citizens; Introduction - Viviene E. Cree; 1. Children and Internet Pornography: A Moral Panic, a Salvation for Censors and Trojan Horse for Government Colonisation of the Digital Frontier - Jim Greer; 2. Internet Radicalisation and the ‘Woolwich Murder’ - David McKendrick; 3. Moralising discourse and the dialectical formation of class identities: The social reaction to 'Chavs' in Britain - Elias Le Grand; 4. The presence of the absent parent: Troubled families and the England ‘riots’ of 2011 - Steve Kirkwood; 5. Patient Safety: A moral panic - William Fear; Afterword - Neil Hume; Part IV: Moral Crusades, Moral Regulation and Morality; Introduction - Mark Smith; 1. The Moral Crusade Against Paedophilia - Frank Furedi; 2. Animal Welfare, Morals and Faith in the ‘Religious Slaughter’ Debate - David Grumett; 3. From genuine to sham marriage: Moral panic and the ‘authenticity’ of relationships - Michaela Benson & Katharine Charsley; 4. Integration, Exclusion and the Moral ‘Othering’ of Roma Migrant Communities in Britain - Colin Clark; 5. Assisted Dying: Moral Panic or Moral Issue? - Malcolm Payne; Afterword: Heather Lynch; Conclusion - Viviene E. Cree, Gary Clapton & Mark Smith

About the Author :
Viviene E. Cree is Professor of Social Work Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She is a qualified youth and community worker and social worker, and has written and researched extensively on social work. Gary Clapton is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and was formerly a children and families practitioner in Edinburgh and London. He has written widely on the subject of moral panics. Mark Smith is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Social Work at the University of Edinburgh. He has previous practice experience in residential child care.

Review :
"A very good introduction to the continuing relevance and dynamism of the concept of moral panics in contemporary times." - Journal of Social Work "This readable, engaging book updates moral panic and shows its continuing relevance alongside a range of interrelated concepts and approaches." Rutgers Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books "This book is a strong collection of well-developed, critical perspectives on moral panics in the 21st century. It will be an important text for students and practitioners pursuing post-qualifying awards." Professional Social Work "It provides a fresh angle, and contributes to updating and developing the original concept." Jan Fook, Professor of Higher Education Pedagogy, Leeds Trinity "A timely international collection on the adaptation of moral panics analysis to contemporary social work issues." Shereen Hussein, British Journal of Social Work "The `Revisiting Moral Panics’ seminar series was a fantastic success. The book lives up to it fully, constantly engaging the reader in the struggle to make social scientific sense of real world events and preoccupations." Mark Drakeford AM, Cardiff West