“By showing the reader how the moral crises of earlier centuries can impact on our understanding of contemporary society Hamerton has revitalised the complex concept of moral panic. Stan Cohen would have been impressed.” — Professor Dick Hobbs, University of Essex, UK “This is a rare book, one which combines the skilful evaluation of complex theory and rigorous historical research in a sophisticated but accessible form. A stimulating, thought-provoking, and highly recommended read.” — Professor Julia Davidson, OBE, University of East London, UK “A very timely and much needed contribution, shedding fresh light on Stanley Cohen’s ‘moral panic’ theory. This book should be widely read across the social sciences and humanities. It will be on my students’ reading lists, and should be marked for inclusion on many others.” — Dr Mark Ramsden, University ofCambridge, UK Devilry, Deviance, and Public Sphere draws on criminology and social theory to explore and expand social historical themes in the analysis of perceptions of deviance and crime in the eighteenth century. Developing the theoretical device of Folk Devils and Moral Panics, instigated by Stanley Cohen and developed by Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, the book explores the social discovery of, and public response to, crime and deviance in that period. Detailed contemporary case studies of youth violence, sexual deviance, and substance abuse are used to argue that Hanoverian London and its novel media can be identified as the initiating historical site for what might now be termed public order moral panics. In doing so, Hamerton provides a vivid historical lineage of moral panic which traverses much of the long eighteenth century. The book considers social change, allowing for points of theoretical convergence and divergence to be observed, whilst exploring historical models of public opinion, media, deviance and crime alongside the unique character and power located within the burgeoning Metropolis. Devilry, Deviance, and Public Sphere seeks to make an important contribution to the understanding of both moral panic theory and the historiography of crime and deviance, and posits that the current discourse on folk devils and moral panics can be extended and enriched via the exploration of the moral crises of earlier centuries. Christopher Hamerton is Deputy Director of the Institute of Criminal Justice Research in the School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. |