Date of Award
Winter 12-14-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Women's Studies
First Advisor
Susan Talburt
Second Advisor
Amira Jarmakani
Third Advisor
Julie Kubala
Abstract
My thesis looks at the creation of moral panics surrounding childhood, sexuality, and media proliferation of “stranger danger,” in American culture. I have chosen to analyze the television program “To Catch a Predator” to illustrate the ways in which these “stranger danger” narratives are related to childhood sexual moral panics and how these two phenomena work to encourage viewership and consumerism in American culture. The exacerbation of “predator” moral panics in reality television maintains the fear of invasion of secure suburban space largely due to the portrayal of African American men as threatening and/or violent within “To Catch a Predator’s” narrative.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/2375155
Recommended Citation
Baker, Crystal L., "To Catch Who? Moral Panics in Contemporary Television Media." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2011.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/2375155