Folk devils & moral panics (1987)

This is a new issue of the second edition of one of the truly classic sociology books of the 1970s. Originally published in 1972, ‘Folk Devils and Moral Panics’ is a classic account of the social reaction to deviant behaviour, using detailed case study of the Mods and Rockers phenomenon which hit Britain in the 1960s but also paying attention to the general processes which generate other ‘folk devils’ such as Teddy Boys, Hell’s Angels, football hooligans, skinheads and punks. The book’s conclusion is no less applicable today than it was when first published: ‘More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created … our society as presently structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members – like working class adolescents – and then condemn whatever solution these groups find’.