SOC-S 320 1nd Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture I. Factors leading to medicalizationa. Emergent influences on medicalizationII. Mental illness and degeneracyIII. Epigenetics Outline of Current LectureIV. Deviance and Moral Panicsa. Cohen b. BeckerV. 5 models of mediaVI. Drug scaresa. 7 ingredients of a drug scareCurrent LectureCohen: Deviance and Moral PanicsSocieties are occasionally subject to period of moral panic- a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interest. - Folk devils: Individuals or groups symbolized as visible reminders of what we should not be. - Moral enterprise: the creation of a new fragment of the moral constitution of society. - Clip of interest: Nancy Reagan “Just Say No” CampaignBecker – Transactional (social reaction/labelling) ApproachSocial control leading to deviance: Medicalization vs. Legalization vs. Decriminalization- When something commonplace becomes illegal through a means of social control it will just go underground and lead to a form of deviance because the action is now illegal. Similar to the prohibition of alcohol. Media: Source of exaggeration and misinformation (early on, not just current day media)These 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.Erikson Moral Boundary Approach: media is constantly reminding us of where the moral boundaries are. 5 Models of Media1. Grassroots (Market) Models: Media merely responding to the interest of active consumers2. Manipulative (elite) model: media do not serve as a watchdog for truth but as a ministry of propaganda to the ruling elite. (V for Vendetta example)3. Professional Subculture Model: Media content and slant are determined by on middle-level interest group in particular – journalists themselves. 4. Multi-mediated model: Media have multiplied and decentralized far beyond the boundaries of what the above three models conceived. a. May give the “folk devils” people being labeled a chance to explain themselves. More specialized media outlets, more perspectives. Vice Magazine, rogue journalism. 5. Interest group model: media reflect the interest of the most powerful political and economic groups in the society but these groups often work at cross-purposes with one another and often cancel each other out. Key Point: Objective molehills are turned in to subjective mountains. Everything being blown out of proportion. Drug Scares: A form of moral panic. Constructed to manipulate the public in to labeling a boogy-man, witch hunt, scapegoat for the countries problems. Larger political issues at hand but instead of dealing with them, the country chooses a scapegoat (typically a minority group or controversial issue) and puts the blame on them. You cannot make a certain group of people illegal, but you can make part of their cultural norms illegal. - Chinese immigrant railroad laborers and opium - Mexican- Americans and Killer weed - Counter-Culture of the 60’s – 70’s and Marijuana7 Ingredients to drug scare1. Kernel of Truth – across all places, times and cultures drug use and mind altering substances have been used2. Media Magnification – the media rhetorically crafts worst-case scenarios and turns scarce cases, in to an epidemic. Sensationalization. 3. Politico-Moral Entrepreneurs – The work of those who create a rule against what they believe is a social evila. Patrick Kennedy, Colbert Report Clip. Young popular democrat against marijuana,marijuana being turned in to big business in order to turn a profit. Medicalizing it. 4. Professional Interest Groups – Various groups contend for ownership of an issue or the ability to define and decide what to do about it. 5. Historical Context of Conflict – Something going on in the background. Society has problems and they want answers6. Linking forms of Drug use to dangerous class – substances are linked to a group of users perceived by the powerful as dangerous. 7. Scapegoating a drug for a wide array of public problems – blaming a drug or its effect on a group of pre existing social illsModern Example: Dabs / Hash