Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was a very disappointing read, as it is a Phd thesis bloated out to book length by lengthy preface material and other commentary and notations. Still, as to the '64-'66 Brighton Beach, etc. Mods vs. Rockers bank holiday riots, it appears the research was Much Ado About Nothing. There never was such riots. Incidental hooliganism was originally hyped in over reporting and probably had nothing to do with Mods or Rockers, just ennui and juvenile delinquency. The reporting drove Mods, Rockers, and spectators with spectators apparently being the most numerous out to the venues and anything that did happen after that was hardly a riot and just the unintended consequences of yellow journalism and a gullible public with nothing to do on holidays.
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