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Organized evil and the Atlantic alliance: Moral panics and the rhetoric of organized crime policing in America and Britain

Woodiwiss, Michael; Hobbs, Dick

Authors

Dick Hobbs



Abstract

Moral panics are conventionally associated with the interpretations of youthful action imposed by powerful state or media forces. However, the concept is also useful in understanding more generally how social problems are constructed and presented. In this paper, we consider how a vague term such as 'organized crime' has emerged as a vehicle for exclusionary rhetorics in both the United States and Britain. While the origins of the organized crime moral panic in the United States can be located amongst moral entrepreneurs, the British version is marked by the outpourings of a right-wing media, and the influence of American foreign policy.

Citation

Woodiwiss, M., & Hobbs, D. (2009). Organized evil and the Atlantic alliance: Moral panics and the rhetoric of organized crime policing in America and Britain. British Journal of Criminology, 49(1), 106-128. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azn054

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2009
Deposit Date Dec 10, 2010
Publicly Available Date Nov 15, 2016
Journal British Journal of Criminology
Print ISSN 0007-0955
Electronic ISSN 1464-3529
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 49
Issue 1
Pages 106-128
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azn054
Keywords moral panics, organized crime, America, Britain, crime policing, evil, atlantic alliance
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1010211
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azn054
Additional Information Additional Information : This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in The British Journal of Criminology following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version "Woodiwiss, Michael and Hobbs, Dick (2009) Organized evil and the atlantic alliance: moral panics and the rhetoric of organized crime policing in America and Britain. The British Journal of Criminology, 49 (1). pp. 106-128" is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azn054.