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Moral panic
feeling of fear spread among a large number of people that some evil threatens the well-being of society / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moral panic is when a category or group of people is seen as a threat to the moral values of society. The people who are seen as a threat show certain patterns of behaviour which are seen as problematic. The goal of the moral panic is to stop these problematic behaviours. In modern times, a sensationalist reporting of the press, and privately organized actions often accompany moral panics.
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In the end, a moral panic will lead to an increase in social control; the chances that values change in a normal way will decrease.[1]
Moral panic is different from mass hysteria. With mass hysteria, there is no social control.