Dangerous Dog Laws

Moral Panic

The three criteria for a “moral panic” discussed in lecture were disproportionality, folk devils, and timing. Disproportionality was described as an intense level of concern by the public that doesn’t match the reality of the issue. A folk devil was described as a person or set of agents “responsible” for wrongdoings. Timing was described as an element that fluctuates, this is when panics are discovered and rediscovered. Timing of a panic also doesn’t always have to reflect the height of an issue in reality.

An example of one of the moral panics discussed in class was the crack epidemic. We watched a short film about Pablo Escobar, and the times that cocaine and crack made its way through the population. In the 70’s and 80’s, cheap cocaine flooded the market, and with freebase kits available, usage increased even more. This is also when crack began to be recognized as a problem drug. In 1986, the Anti-drug Abuse act was passed by congress. One of the images widely used by society as a sort of moral threat was the image of “crack babies”. It was said that these children, or “crack babies” would never be normal, almost as if they were less than human, partly because it was argued that crack destroyed natural maternal instinct. This law instituted a mandatory minimum sentence for crack dealers, and users.

By the late 80’s, and into the early 90’s, crack became the drug of choice, and as social awareness rose, the epidemic migrated throughout different cities. As we were told in class, drug epidemics are limited to the number of people willing to use the drug. When the mass of the drug leaves the population, it makes it harder to find, and more expensive, resulting in a usage percentage drop into the 90’s. In the timeline of the crack epidemic, the elevations and declines of the panic show constant fluctuation.

Although these events happened in my lifetime, I honestly had no idea of its severity. Another example in lecture and discussion was the...