SOC 368 1nd Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Previous Lecture I.Review of Crime FactsII.Critique of UCRIII.Crime of Myths and Fear of CrimeOutline of Current Lecture I.Crime Myths II.Moral PanicsCurrent Lecture Crime Myths and Moral PanicsI. Crime Mythsa. False beliefs about crimei. Distortion of our understanding of crime leads to fear; this fear can be misplacedii. It can manipulate crime myths as social resources, whose functions include:1. distorting fear and increasing fear to benefit or put down a group2. Conveying information on the power structurea. Who commits crimes and who doesn’t based on the societal structureb. Assuming low class people are more likely to commit crimesc. Assuming high class is not fearful of being convicted or of being targeted by crime3. Reinscribe moral boundaries a. Good and bad moral boundaries based on societal differences; higher classes are able to shape what is morally appropriate and what is not II. Moral Panicsa. A period of marked concern for _(whatever reason)_i. Specific to particular communities or societies; could be over:1. a “type” of person or people2. drug scares3. sex panics/practicesThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.4. diseases5. places (specific areas where morally “bad” things happenb. Typesi. Drug scaresii. Crime wavesiii. Sex panicsc. Dynamicsi. Related to “social problems”1. Concerns, not conditionsa. Only relevant to what people are actually afraid of, not necessarily what is actually happeningb. Eg: homophobia fear rising from fear of disease and gay sex (fear of disease/sex panics)c. Eg: Ebola outbreaks (fear of disease)2. Folk devil/scapegoatsa. Blames a type of person for all social ills, leading to the distraction of actual societal issuesi. Reinerman labeled drugs as “functional scapegoats”, because of how the war on drugs has consumed so many resources and given so much power to officials, when in reality the roots of the problems are not being addressed or solvedb. The group/person becomes personification of evil; unambiguously evili. People start to believe the hate towards them, rather than contesting it or seeing it as illogical; efforts to put the groups down lower are not stopped or challenged because everyone believes that they are evild. Drug Scaresi. Substances/drugs are linked with a “dangerous group” (Reinerman); this group is threatening to the higher, dominant classesii. Types of threats include economic, “others” moving into the neighborhood, racism, prestige of a particular group, etc. 1. Material vs. symbolic threatsa. Taking jobs vs. increasing in prestige2. False beliefsa. People fear the new group will taint their society and socialpractices, norms and lifestyleHistorical Examples of Drug Laws in the US Substance “Dangerous Group” Nature of Threat Law EnforcedOpium Chinese Male Immigrants Taking jobs, competition, racism, defending majority of opium users (60-75% were white women, legally using opium)1874- San Francisco anti-opium law (targeted Chinese immigrants, alleviates white people; first drug law in America)Narcotics Black people racism 1914- Harrison Narcotics Law (first federal drug law; targeted black people are being drug users)Alcohol Irish and Italian immigrants; CatholicsTaking jobs; finding themto be more colored than the white people alreadyin America1919- Volsted Act (Prohibition era led to more gang violence and illegal drug use until it was eventually revoked)Marihuana Mexicans and black peopleRacism and targeting lower income areas1937- Marihuana tax law“Crack” (solid cocaine) Racialized to black peopleTargeting lower income areas; powder cocaine (used by upper class white people) was not taxed1986- Anti-Drug Abuse Act (increased penalties for crack over powder