The witch-hunts in early modern Europe are a historical example of mass behavior. A moral panic may have started them. 1555 German print.
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.
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.
From about the 1920s, different kinds of new music have been said to cause spiritual or otherwise moral corruption to younger generations.[2] These were sometimes called "the devil's music". Blues recived this label; people believed it caused people to become violent, and to show other poor behavior. Jazz also received such a label; traditionalists considered jazz to contribute to the breakdown of morality.[3] Blues and jazz were seen as "negro music" . Urban middle-class African Americans perceived jazz as "devil's music", and agreed with the beliefs that jazz's improvised rhythms and sounds were promoting promiscuity.[4] In the mid 1980s, teenagers had killed themselves after they had listened to music for some time; mostly metal. A label "Parental advisory:explicit lyrics" was introduced, but court cases to sue musicians because of the texts they used were unsuccessful.[5] A group of parents were discontent, because the parental advisory sticker would not make a difference between music that was "offensive, satanic, sexual in nature [or] otherwise objectionable."[5]