Declaration I hereby certify that the material submitted in this thesis towards the award of the Masters (M.A.) in Criminology is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for any academic assessment other than part-fulfilment of the award named above. Signature of candidate............................................................................. Abstract Moral Panic is a concept that examines disproportionate reaction towards an event or persons. In March of 2006, several events

more »

... red which provoked strong reactions from the media and from politicians. This thesis explores and examines those reactions, and will try to determine if a moral panic could be said to have occurred. This is accomplished through a qualitative reading of the reactions, by identifying themes running through the discourse on crime of the time in question, and by applying indicators of moral panic to the data. The study finds that though the reactions may not necessarily indicate moral panic, coverage of the event in both the political and media spheres proved unsatisfactory, and a recommendation of a need for moderation in future discourse on crime is suggested. Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to the following people, whose help and encouragement have been invaluable in the completion of this dissertation. Claire Hamilton, Dublin Institute of Technology, for her supervision, guidance and tireless support in this research. The academic and support staff at Dublin Institute of Technology for providing the educational structures upon which this research was built.