Deviancy amplification spiral is a mass media phenomenon defined by media critics as an increasing cycle of reporting on a category of antisocial behavior or other undesirable events. In 1972, Stanley Cohen wrote a book, Folk Devils and Moral Panics, whose thesis is that moral panics usually include what he called a deviancy amplification spiral. Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Professor Stanley Cohen is the Martin White Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Social mania. ...

According to theory, the spiral starts with some "deviant" act. Usually the deviance is criminal but it can also involve legal acts considered morally repugnant. The mass media report what they consider to be newsworthy, but the new focus on the issue uncovers hidden or borderline examples which themselves would not have been newsworthy except inasmuch as they confirm the "pattern". For a variety of reasons, what is not frightening and would help the public keep a rational perspective (such as statistics showing that the behavior or event is actually less common or harmful than generally believed) tends to be ignored. Deviant behavior is behavior that is a recognized violation of cultural norms. ... Criminal redirects here for other uses of crime and criminal, see crime (disambiguation). ...

As a result, minor problems begin to look serious and rare events begin to seem common. Members of the public are motivated to keep informed on these events. The resulting publicity has potential to increase deviant behaviour by glamourising it or making it seem common or acceptable.

In the next stage, supporters of the theory contend, public concern about crime typically forces the police and the whole law enforcement system to focus more resources on dealing with the specific deviancy than it warrants. Judges and magistrates under public pressure pass stiffer sentences. Politicians under pressure pass new laws to deal with the perceived threat. All this tends to convince the public that any fear was justified while the media continue to profit by reporting police and other law enforcement activity. For the band, see The Police. ...

The theory does not contend that moral panics always include the deviancy amplification spiral. In modern times, media involvement is usual in any moral panic. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Social mania. ...

See also

• Missing white woman syndrome
• Media hype
• Yellow journalism
• Mass hysteria
• Sensationalism
• Mean world syndrome
• Mass media
• Social control
• Crowd psychology
• Culture of fear

Missing white woman syndrome, also known as missing pretty girl syndrome, is a term coined by some media critics to reference a form of media hype in which excessive news coverage is devoted to a specific missing white woman or girl, while virtually ignoring missing men, non-white women, or... INS agents recover Elián González by force from his uncles house; this photo, taken by AP photographer Alan Diaz won him a Pulitzer Prize. ... Nasty little printers devils spew forth from the Hoe press in this Puck cartoon of Nov. ... In psychology collective hysteria is the name given to a phenomenon of the manifestation of the same hysterical symptoms by more than one person. ... Sensationalism is a manner of being extremely controversial, loud, attention-grabbing, or otherwise sensationalistic. ... Mean World Syndrome is described as the distinguishing characteristic of Media Induced Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (MIPTSD). ... Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ... Social control refers to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior, in terms of greater sanctions and rewards. ... Ordinary people typically can gain direct power by acting collectively. ... Culture of fear is a term proposed in a variety of sociological theses, which argue that feelings of fear and anxiety predominate in contemporary public discourse and relationships, changing how we relate to one another as individuals and as democratic agents. ...

References

• Cohen, Stanley. Folk devils and moral panics. London: Mac Gibbon and Kee, 1972. ISBN 0-415-26712-9.
• Course texts for the Open University Course, DD 100.