Fear is a potent emotion. As Eugenia Rodriguez, Psy.D., administrative faculty at Pacific Oaks and coordinator of the Latinx Family Studies and LGBTQIA+ Studies specialties in the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program explains, “It causes a significant biological reaction that can be hard to overcome. When you’re afraid, it doesn’t matter if the tiger is real or not. The fear of the tiger devouring your children is still going to be there.”
Accessing and activating fear is one of the easiest ways that outside sources can override the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking, and, under the right circumstances, send us into our most primal, reactive states. Master manipulators throughout history have recognized this and learned to wield fear as a weapon, sewing division and chaos in the fabric of society for the sake of gaining or maintaining power and hierarchy.
Recently, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially transgender individuals, have been the victims of a modern moral panic fueled by detrimental messaging campaigns from politicians and pundits deeming them a threat to society, calling for bans on gender-affirming care, and suggesting—or outright promoting—their eradication from public life. The current situation encapsulates all the hallmarks of past moral panics,with troubling implications for the future. In this article, we speak with Dr. Rodriguez as well as Cassandra Peel, Ph.D., administrative faculty and director of the Master of Social Work program, about how to define, identify, and mitigate the harmful effects of moral panic.
Anatomy of a moral panic
The first step toward effectively combating moral panic is to understand how the condition works and how to recognize it. Sociologist Stanley Cohen developed the term for his 1972 book, “Folk Devils and Moral Panics,” in which he said “moral panic” can be recognized by three distinguishing characteristics:
- Focused attention on the real or imagined behavior of certain groups or individuals identified as “folk devils” by the mass media.
- A notable gap between the concern over a situation and the objective threat it poses. Usually, the alleged “threat” is far less than popularly perceived due to how it is portrayed by authorities and in the media.
- Fluctuation in the level of concern of a condition or situation over time. As Cohen outlines, this begins with those who wish to instigate panic “discovering” the “threat” of the folk devils, followed by a fast rise of messaging against them, and the peak of public crisis, which then abruptly subsides.
Examples of moral panics that have gripped the U.S. in the past include the Red Scare, the possession of switchblades, Satanic Panic, and Stranger Danger. The current anti-trans panic is part of an even bigger wave of moral panic targeting numerous progressive initiatives in the U.S. today including critical race theory, social-emotional learning, and more. Often, recycling the rhetoric of past moral panics gives it new life for a new era.
Every moral panic centers on a folk devil: a scapegoat serving as a pawn for the powerful. As such, folk devils usually belong to communities already marginalized because of race or ethnicity, class, sexuality, nationality, or religion. A moral panic intentionally targets minority groups with little to no social or political power, making it more difficult for them to redirect or reclaim the public narrative.
Designating a folk devil is a way to “other” those in that community, effectively isolating them from the general public and hindering the honest communication that could weaken the moral panic. “If you’re afraid of someone because you don’t know them, you’re more likely to believe they would do horrible things to you if they were able to gain power,” Dr. Rodriguez says. “And there’s no space to have rational discussions because every time the topic comes up, the fear response is activated in those who have internalized the misleading messaging, so they jump into a reactionary state.”
Currently, certain politicians, pundits, and media outlets are attempting to trigger that fear response by portraying transgender individuals as society’s folk devils, crafting a narrative that paints them as sexual deviants and labeling them as “groomers.” Even as such accusations are debunked or explained, multiple states have introduced or implemented anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation as a response to the panic. The proposed laws include bans on gender-affirming care, limits on the participation of transgender athletes in sports, requirements for transgender individuals to use public bathrooms based on their assigned sex at birth, and restrictions on public drag performances.
Through the very real impact a moral panic can have on legislation, it becomes an effective tool for enforcing systems of oppression against marginalized groups. Programs like those at Pacific Oaks aim to help students learn how to recognize and break down these systems of oppression to help mitigate them and subsequently reduce the impact of a moral panic. “In the MFT program, we want students to understand systems of oppression and the impact they have on marginalized communities within those spaces,” Dr. Rodriguez says.
For example, one course in the program, Interface of Society, uses “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Freire as the assigned text to help students break down the factors that make up our systems through the lens of social justice. As Dr. Rodriguez states, “We want them to walk away with a heightened awareness of the different circumstances in which people live and the inherent, equal worth they each hold regardless of their circumstances.”
Enriched understanding of human interaction and the effect of oppressive systems can help reduce the divisive impact of othering. When it comes to diminishing the power of panic, it’s vital to create, rebuild, and maintain channels of public connection that enforce the equal worth of each person. This can offset the negative messages being spread by those instigating panic. Otherwise, the situation can escalate with tragic results.
The toll of panic
For the designated folk devils, the consequences of moral panic can be devastating and can “further the polarization of our sociopolitical climate and throw human rights and democracy into serious jeopardy,” according to Dr. Peel.
As a licensed therapist who regularly works with LGBTQIA+ clients and a member of the community herself, Dr. Rodriguez has experienced the negative mental health effects of the current anti-transgender panic firsthand.
“It’s traumatizing,” she states. “There’s a mass increase in heightened anxiety and trauma for many people in the community, and everyone deals with it differently. I’ve noticed a lot of my LGBTQIA+ clients and students responding with hypervigilance—constantly on the lookout for danger.”
Dr. Rodriguez often hears her clients’ deepest worries, which gives her a heightened awareness of the extended stress the transgender community endures as targets of a moral panic. She echoes some of the most common sentiments at the heart of her clients’ anxiety:
“Am I ever even supposed to win? Or just survive?”
“Will I ever be allowed to just live as myself in peace?”
“Why do people who don’t even know me hate me?”
“Why do people who don’t even understand me want me dead?”
When targeted as folk devils, individuals are subjected to harassment campaigns from media outlets and politicians, name-calling, fearmongering, and blanket statements about their community. Even when misinformation being spread about the LGBTQIA+ community is proven false and opinions being pushed don’t represent the majority of the public, they’re loud enough and powerful enough to block out everything else.
If the panic gains too much hold over the public, its effects can grow more drastic, potentially bringing about a state of societally accepted violence and oppression toward the identified folk devils. When a society reaches this point, history has shown the dire consequences. One tragic and infamous example is the Nazi-led Holocaust that took place in Europe between 1933 and 1945. Moral panics can serve as useful tools for authoritarian regimes, damaging enough even when the wave of panic doesn’t lead to full-on fascism.
“This is too much for vulnerable groups to shoulder in addition to the daily struggles of discrimination and violence they already face,” Dr. Peel says.
According to a 2020 study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 82% of transgender individuals have considered suicide and 40% have actually attempted it, with suicidality highest among transgender youth. As Dr. Rodriguez explains, “Transgender identities are not causing the depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation. It is the negative messaging external forces attach to those identities that is causing the distress.”
Power over panic
The current panic focused on the transgender community is a part of an even larger wave of moral panic triggered by multiple progressive initiatives across the U.S. Those driving moral panic often capitalize on this convergence of overlapping triggers by emphasizing the differences that separate communities, further dividing them from the public and one another. Educating the public as well as professionals to help them better understand the value of diverse communities can combat the spread of divisive misinformation.
At Pacific Oaks, the Marriage and Family Therapy program offers several specializations for students to focus on the communities that have been marginalized in the field. Options include African American Family Studies, Latinx Family Studies, and LGBTQIA+ Studies, and each examines how these communities have been impacted over time. “That historical perspective leads you to be a better clinician in the mental health field where you’ll need to confront current events that are causing family members, clients, and communities to react from a space of panic,” Dr. Rodriguez says. “We’re hoping to help our students go out into the world to become clinicians that are better qualified to hold spaces for other people.”
Another specialization is called Trauma Studies and helps students better understand the effects of fear on all communities. Dr. Rodriguez teaches multiple courses on trauma at Pacific Oaks, three of which are LGBTQIA+ History and Historical Trauma, Latinx History, and Immigration Trauma. “In these classes, the goal is to examine the fear these communities have historically faced and the way it affected them,” she says.
Outside the classroom, there are still many actions one can take to help reduce the power of panic, many of which center on fostering communication and connection. “You can share resources and engage in meaningful workshops and conversations,” Dr. Peel says. “You can amplify the stories of those who are experiencing oppression. And you can take action as an ally by donating to organizations and movements that uplift oppressed groups.” She adds, “As educators, we can continue to use trauma-informed teaching principles in our courses. This way, there is a continued acknowledgement of how trauma impacts individuals and communities.”
Programs like those at Pacific Oaks can help students forge panic-reducing connections by broadening their perspective through cultivating a diverse environment where all experiences are valued. “Our institution is guided by four core values: respect, diversity, social justice, and inclusion,” Dr. Rodriguez says. “Our climate and culture are always actively challenging systems of oppression.”
Ultimately, the transgender community may feel the effects of the current moral panic most directly, but history has shown that the persecution of one community can lead to negative effects for all. The key is to nurture, strengthen, and defend community connections whenever possible.
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