Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sex Offender Issues

Criminal Law

: Sex Offender Issues

NJ - Spin Doctors and Moral Crusaders: The Moral Panic behind Child Safety Legislation

View the PDF document hereThis is from the New Jersey Department of Corrections.Issues of child abduction and molestation have risen so high on social agendas that they have all but eclipsed similarly offensive crimes. Media broadcasts of a rash of child abductions, molestations and homicides have led to a nationwide moral panic concerning the safety of children. The media frenzy surrounding these publicized cases has created a ?fear factor? among parents and caregivers, begging the question as to whether the incidence of child abduction and molestation has increased or whether the nation?s heightened sensitivity is a result of increased media reporting. This article explores the present climate of fear by way of five moral panic criteria developed by Goode & Ben-Yehuda...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Offender Issues on June 12, 2008 (boomark / email).