Youth, Popular Culture and Moral Panics by John Springhall

Youth, Popular Culture and Moral Panics by John Springhall

This book sets out to show that modern-day fears about the supposed moral threat posed to the young by violent movies or interactive computer games have their roots in nineteenth-century anxieties about the ill effects of popular forms of amusement on the children of the lower classes. These concerns stretch in an almost unbroken line through successive moral panics in both Britain and America, as throughout history there have been attempts to shift the blame for social breakdown onto the entertainment forms of the age: penny theatres, penny dreadfuls, dime novels, gangster films, horror comics. All these are discussed, evaluated, and placed in context. A postscript refers to video nasties, violence on television, gangsta rap, and computer games, each in turn playing the role of folk devils which must be causing delinquency. The book argues that since moral panics over popular culture are perennial, this tells us a great deal more about adult anxieties--fear of the future, technological change, and the erosion of moral absolutes--than about the nature of juvenile misbehavior.

'Springhall's is a minutely researched, provocative and long-overdue study..the book belongs to a vital current of work concerning the neglected overlap of children's literature, print and media history, and popular culture.' - The Lion and the Unicorn 'Dr Springhall has written an excellent book, abounding with references and source lists, which is both informative and entertaining. It should be obligatory reading for anyone who thinks he/she understands the causes of juvenile crime.' - Co-operative News 'Gripped by the notion that there is something profoundly subversive about people enjoying themselves, the Anglo-Saxon middle classes, so Springhall demonstrates, have continued to indulge in regular spasms of wrath over everything from gangster films to 'gangsta rap'. The book has a particularly fascinating section on the relation between the American fear of mass culture and McCarthyism.' - Terry Eagleton, Times Higher Education Supplement '[Springhall's book]...is directed to the historical amnesia which results in wave after wave of moral panics over popular (juvenile) entertainments. This is a very welcome project, and ably accomplished by Springhall, who emerges at the close, shaking the dust of the archives from his sleeves, to conclude that such amnesia hardly equips Western societies 'to withstand the upheavals of the end of the century.' - Michael Pickering, European Journal of Communication 'Entertaining and erudite, Springhall's meticulously evidenced account demonstrates how attacks on the media help to disguise more profound social anxieties...' - Emma Longstaff, University of Cambridge, The Journal of the National Association for Youth Justice

JOHN SPRINGHALL is Reader in History at the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780333660836
ISBN 10	0333660838
Title	Youth, Popular Culture and Moral Panics
Author	John Springhall
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	1999-04-28
Number of pages	230
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.