Reactions to Asylum Seekers in Australia: An Example of a Moral Panic

Reactions to Asylum Seekers in Australia: An Example of a Moral Panic
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc16655671 \h 32.0 Summary of Moral Panic Theory and Australian’s Reactions to Asylum Seekers PAGEREF _Toc16655672 \h 43.0 Hostility, Consensus, Disproportionate, and Volatility and Relationship with Moral Panic PAGEREF _Toc16655673 \h 53.1 Hostility PAGEREF _Toc16655674 \h 53.2 Consensus PAGEREF _Toc16655675 \h 53.3 Disproportion PAGEREF _Toc16655676 \h 63.4 Volatility PAGEREF _Toc16655677 \h 64.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc16655678 \h 7Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc16655679 \h 8
Reactions to Asylum Seekers in Australia: An Example of a Moral Panic
Reactions to Asylum Seekers in Australia: An Example of a Moral Panic
1.0 Introduction
The social discourse of Australians is largely shaped by institutional, situational, and social contexts, and most often, society fails to embrace diverse viewpoints in regards to asylum seekers and perceives them as illegal (Krotofil & Motak, 2018, p.95). Such a discourse not only encourages prejudice and intolerance, but also buttresses a line of thinking that society employs to justify the actions by Australians when handling refugees and asylum seekers. For instance, the public has always used the same negative connotations such as “illegal maritime arrival” to refer to those arriving by boat (McAdam & Chong, 2014, p.52). In examining the reaction to asylum seekers in Australian society, Martin (2015, p.304) has employed the theory of moral panic by arguing that recent campaigns of deterring “boat people” from setting foot in Australia denote a classic moral panic. Moral panic has been successful among Australians since they resonate with deep-rooted anxieties about the Australians way of life and national identity re-counting to the dread of Asian invasion and multiculturalism concerns (Martin, 2015, p.304). Unfortunately, as Goode and Ben-Yehuda (2009, p.35) explains, a society experiencing moral panic anchors and expresses feelings that the “evil” asylum seekers pose a significant threat to society and its moral order, and would justify their reactions towards them that “something should be done.” From the perspective of the moral panic theory, this paper supports the claim that the reaction to asylum seekers in Australia is an example of a moral panic in society, and is by extension, a permanent product of relentless war on terror that has perceived Muslim-terrorist-refugee figures as a transnational adversary.
2.0 Summary of Moral Panic Theory and Australian’s Reactions to Asylum Seekers
The media, politicians, action groups, law enforcement agencies, and the public may express intense concern over a phenomenon, condition, behavior, or an issue that would-be a threat, which a careful analysis of evidence might reveal it does not merit the disquiet. Such overheated moments of intense concerns are often not lasting for long , and in such a time when sociologist have referred to as ‘moral panic’ the responsible agents for the threats, always known as “folk devils’ are often referred to as classified and stereotypically devian...