From the Renaissance witch craze to the denunciation of horror comics and rock and roll in the 1950s and flag burning in the late twentieth and the early twenty-first century, institutions and groups of individuals have mobilized around issues where they feel threatened.

This book introduces, describes, and analyzes the collective outbreaks of scares about threats or supposed threats from deviants or "folk devils," a category of people who, some believe, engage in evil practices and are blamed for menacing the society's culture, way of life, and central values.

Examining what motivates fear- and concern-inspired collective behavior, the second edition of Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance comprehensively updates this popular and highly-respected text, bringing in a host of new examples, and new chapters on the media and criticisms of the moral panics concept.