title | concern | causes | location | time | refs |
---|
Comic book panic | That comic books were negatively influencing young people | Popularization of comic books among the youth, publication of Seduction of the Innocent | United States | 1930s – 1950s | [13] [14] |
Sexual psychopath panic | Child sexual offending by "sexual psychopaths", a contested psychological category of sex offenders [15] | Sensationalistic media coverage of child sex crimes | United States | 1930s – 1950s | [15] [16] |
Homosexual panic | That homosexuals were trying to "promote homosexuality" to society, including children | | United States, United Kingdom | 1950s – 1990s | [17] [18] |
Lavender scare | That homosexuals were conspiring against American interests | Societal tensions during the Cold War, the belief that homosexuals were sympathetic toward the Soviet Union | United States | 1950s | [12] [15] |
Mods and rockers panic | Hooligan activities by the two youth groups | Sensationalistic media coverage of the conflicts between the groups | United Kingdom | 1960s | [19] [2] |
War on drugs | Drug trafficking and consumption | Increase of drug consumption in society, media alarmism | Global | 1970s – present | [4] [20] |
Sex offender panic | Child sex crimes perpetrated by sex offenders and pedophiles | Reoccurrence of high-profile child sexual abuse scandals | United States, United Kingdom | 1970s – present | [21] [22] [16] [23] |
Violent video games panic | That video games were influencing children into committing violent acts | Popularization of violent video games among the youth, discredited psychological theories about games | United States | 1970s – 1990s | [24] [25] |
Mugging panic | Muggings in public streets, especially by young Black males | Media alarmism, 1973 Birmingham mugging attack | United Kingdom | 1970s | [26] |
Satanic panic | That supposed Satanic cults were engaging in child sexual abuse rituals | Unsubstantiated Satanic ritual abuse rumors and allegations, tabloid journalism | United States | 1980s | [27] [28] |
Missing children panic | Child abduction by strangers in public places | Murder of Adam Walsh, media sensationalism | United States | 1980s | [26] [29] [30] |
Dungeons & Dragons panic | That some RPG table-top games, especially D&D, were leading young people into drug use and Satanism | Popularization of mythical-themed role-play games, Christian and BADD activism, [31] other controversies | United States | 1980s | [32] [33] |
Day-care sex-abuse hysteria | That some day-care centers were engaging in Satanic child sexual abuse | Increased usage of day-cares among employed women with young children | United States | 1980s – 1990s | [34] [35] |
AIDS panic | AIDS dissemination, particularly by gay men | AIDS pandemic of the 1980s, Conservative activism | Global | 1980s – 1990s | [36] [37] |
"Wilding" panic | Physical and sexual assaults in public streets by ethnic youth gangs | Rape of Trisha Meili, media sensationalism | United States | 1989 – 1990s | [38] [39] |
Dangerous dogs panic | Dog attacks against humans, especially by pit bulls | Sensationalistic media coverage of dog attacks | United Kingdom | late 1980s – 1990s | [40] [41] [42] |
Harry Potter panic | That the book series was leading children into witchcraft and occultism | The novels' themes of magic and witchcraft, anti-occult activism against the series | United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia | 1990s – 2000s | [43] [1] |
Internet moral panic | The dissemination of legal and illegal pornography on the internet, online criminal activities | Popularization of the Internet, media sensationalism | Global | 1990s – 2000s | [44] [45] [46] [47] |
School shooting panic | School shootings | Increased media coverage of school shooting cases [48] | United States | 1990s – present | [49] [50] |