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British Journal of Criminology Advance Access originally published online on August 13, 2008
British Journal of Criminology 2009 49(1):106-128; doi:10.1093/bjc/azn054
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The British Journal of Criminology 49:106-128 (2009)
© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Organized Evil and the Atlantic Alliance

Moral Panics and the Rhetoric of Organized Crime Policing in America and Britain

Michael Woodiwiss* and Dick Hobbs

* University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK; Michael.Woodiwiss{at}uwe.ac.uk.


  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.


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