Study Questions for Surette

Study Questions for Potter

1. What is a moral panic?

2. What role does the news media play in creating and amplifying moral panics?

3. Describe several recent examples of "folk devils."

1. Why are media covered individual crime incidents almost always the building blocks of public opinion concerning crime?

2. What is the author's opinion about the public's reaction to crime stories, particularly fear.

1. How is a crime wave created?

2. How do crime themes differ from crime waves?

1. Why are reality-based crime TV programs so potentially manipulating?

2. What crime "urban legends" are perpetuated by reality TV?

1. What do the authors mean by "crime motifs?"

2. What are the major gang initiation forms of violence described in media accounts?

3. What does social science literature have to say about gang initiation violence?

1. What were the major stories saying about "ice" during the early 1990s?

2. Describe the realities of methamphetamine production, distribution, and use patterns in the U.S.

3. In what ways was the rhetoric surrounding ice similar to other substances linked to drug panics?

4. Why is concern over "ice" a good example of how a local problem can rise to the level of national concern?

1. What is the relationship between journalists and politicians, government officials and law enforcement in reporting drug-related stories?

2. What do you think accounts for the incident driven nature of drug crime reporting?

1. Describe the curious history of our society's attitude toward alcohol from colonial era to the 1980s.

2. Why was MADD so successful so quickly in its efforts to push the nationwide drinking age to 21?

1. Why can completely fraudulent stories regarding drug use sometimes slip through the journalistic editing processes?