EP95: Identifying Moral Panic

Michael H. Eversman, PhD, MSW, is the author of "Identifying Moral Panic: The Discourse of Fear in Social Policy" from NASW Press. This book uses historic and contemporary moral panic episodes — periods of exaggerated public fear triggered by high-profile incidents linked to feared social groups — to show how political discourse and stereotyping lead to policies that maintain social inequalities. Eversman emphasizes social work's social justice mission and the need to stay vigilant amid structural inequalities rooted in labeling and otherism, enabling readers to recognize the patterns of moral panic discourse in our culture.  Dr. Eversman is associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Rutgers University–Newark. You can purchase "Identifying Moral Panic" at https://naswpress.org/product/53667/identifying-moral-panic.