Social panic

A social panic is a state where a social or community group reacts negatively and in an extreme or irrational manner to unexpected or unforeseen changes in their expected social status quo. According to Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen, the definition can be broken down to many different sections. The sections, which were identified by Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda in 1994, include concern, hostility, consensus, disproportionality, and volatility. Concern, which is not to be mistaken with fear, is about the possible or potential threat. Hostility occurs when an outrage occurs toward the people who were apart of the problem and agencies who are accountable. These people are seen as the enemy since their behavior is viewed as a danger to society. Consensus includes a distributed agreement that an actual threat is going to take place. This is where the media and other sources come in to aid in spreading of the panic. Disproportionality compares how people react and the actual seriousness of the condition. Volatility is when there is no longer any more panic.

The media plays a crucial part in delivering social reaction. According to Stanley Cohen, there are three processes that the media expresses: Exaggeration and distortion, prediction, and symbolization.

In this process, the media can "over-report" with their choice of words. For example, the word "disturbance" can be used to mean having a noise complaint due to loud music next door and a group of people acting violently by throwing rocks and setting vehicles on fire. The wording of the stories can make a minor problem seem more serious than it really is. This can make people overreact in response to relatively minor problems and may lead them to believe that disturbances, acts of terrorism, riots, and instances have the same meaning.

Furthermore, the headlines used by the media might cause society to act irrationally to a story about minor issues. They can be misleading and can report information that has nothing to do with the actual story. Negative words such as "violence" can be used when there was no violence involved. The media can also point to specific characteristics that are the reason for the crime that was committed. For example, a story can discuss a murder, but the headline might focus on the hoodie the culprit was wearing. Emphasizing the hoodie will draw attention to what the person was wearing instead of the murder that took place. This causes people to become paranoid and overreact when they see someone wearing clothing that looks suspicious.

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