Lamenting the “Decline of the Family Meal” as a Moral Panic ? Methodological Reflections
This essay considers the relevance of the idea of moral panic to a frequently repeated lament for the supposed “decline of the family meal”. It proceeds by first recapitulating earlier discussion (Murcott, 1997) of the supposition, second by bringing that discussion up to date. Noteworthy is the dur...
Zapisane w:
| Wydane w: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rsa, |
|---|---|
| 1. autor: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Język: | Anglais |
| Wydane: |
Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques
2013
|
| Dostęp online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Streszczenie: | This essay considers the relevance of the idea of moral panic to a frequently repeated lament for the supposed “decline of the family meal”. It proceeds by first recapitulating earlier discussion (Murcott, 1997) of the supposition, second by bringing that discussion up to date. Noteworthy is the durability of that lament and of the range of practitioners and activists who report and repeat it. Although suitable data sets are in short supply, some social scientific research has relatively recently been devoted to examining the historical accuracy of the decline of the family meal, and find at best equivocal support for its disappearance. Despite the inadequacy or absence of evidence for any decline, the lament persists, revealing the lament as a possible exaggeration. The paper’s final section reviews the relevance of moral panic in relation to the persisting lament in respect of the seven features of the notion presented by Garland (2008). On this basis, the article concludes that, despite claims by Jackson et al. (2009) of the relevance of moral panic to the lament, it is only partly so. |
|---|