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Accounting and regulators are an integral part of new public management (NPM) across public sectors. This article aims to look at one of their potential drawbacks by investigating how a policy was deemed as a failure by regulators because of its limited financial controls.

A case study of Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) in the UK draws on secondary sources organized into a chronology of events to show how concerns about a small number of providers were followed by claims of widespread abuse of ILAs being reported by regulators; claims that were disseminated widely by the media, but which were not substantiated by prosecutions.

There is insufficient evidence to substantiate claims of widespread abuse and fraud of ILAs. This suggests that regulatory bodies helped amplify concerns about fraud and abuse, contributing to a minor moral panic.

The absence of accounting that promoted concerns of financial abuse, also takes away one of the potential forms of evidence that could be used to substantiate the moral panic.

To help avoid moral panics, regulators should report only forms of fraud and abuse that are proven, rather than sharing in conjectures of those that might have taken place.

This paper is one of the few academic studies of ILAs and the only one to date to explore the detrimental role of NPM arrangements in generating moral panics.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyse the fierce debate regarding children and young people’s use of digital social media, going on in Denmark (and in many other countries) in both mass media and social media. The overall question is what this panic is about and why the mass media and the public do not listen to the media sociologists than to self-appointed experts?

Using a systems-theoretical angle, this paper analyses the debate and answers the following questions: Why are researchers not taken more seriously, and why are their views neglected and criticised? What part does morality play in such debates? How and why do the mass media act as they do, for instance, listening more to debaters than to the researchers? 4) What is the role of the so-called social media? And are these debates best understood as conflicts?

The scientific code is only one among several other codes. The mass media also communicates about truth but only as a result of their own code and programs, which also counts for other functional systems such as the juridical and the political system. In the code and programmes of a given mass medium, it has information value that different actors has different truths, to which comes that conflicts between different opinions of truth is a direct selection criterium. This is the function of the mass media, and nobody would like to live in a society without (except for dictators and their henchmen). Finally, science is very programmatic and communicates only through its own code and programs why research results seldom reach the public in its own form (scientific books and articles) but through the lens of mass media organisations and the debaters. When science is observed from other systems, it happens through their codes and programs why science often does not count more than ordinary people’s meanings.

The debate is polarised: on the one hand, there are debaters (self-appointed experts), whereas on the other hand, there are media researchers especially media sociologists. It turns out that the debaters have better communication possibilities than the researchers, as the scientific code does not trigger the news criteria as good as the often alarming statements from the debaters, who also use the moral code of communication that the researchers do not, as they are obligated to communicate solely in the scientific code.

There is no other systems-theoretical analysis of the moral media panic debates. The application of Luhmann’s systems theory is well suited, as it is both a communication theory and a sociological theory, whereas it is including both the relevant functional systems, such as the mass media, and the relevant communication codes, such as the news criteria of the mass media.

Much social policy research today is commissioned, published and publicised by organisations with direct involvement in that particular aspect of policy. Whilst much good can result from such “advocacy research”, at times the tactics employed by some groups have been criticised for exaggerated claims making and sensationalist reporting as they attempt to get their particular issue into the political and public domain and also generate more government funding and/or increase public donations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate such claims.

In this paper the author wishes to look at some of the tactics utilised by advocacy groups in order to establish the legitimacy of their particular concern. The author focuses on material published by Action for Children and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and between 2010 and 2012 in relation to child maltreatment, critically analysing them from a social constructionist standpoint and drawing on aspects of moral panic theory.

The paper concludes by warning of the dangers for both social policy and related practice that can arise from uncritically accepting the claims of contemporary moral entrepreneurs.

This paper uses theoretical concepts to analyse contemporary campaigns by two charity organisations.

The purpose of this study is to examine the politics, political economy, and fallout of hawkish regulatory policy on prescription drugs in Nigeria. Hawkish regulatory policy on prescription drug in Nigeria, such as opioid analgesics, is a very complex and multifaceted one, which usually involves the interplay of many factors and parties.

Policy manuals, official government gazettes (legislations, regulations, Acts and decrees), academic literature and a direct ethnographic observation of events surrounding the regulation of prescription drugs were reviewed and engaged.

The results revealed that Nigerian and global political economy and politics interface to define the direction of the new restrictive opioid policy, with resultant friction between prohibition and consumption. The reviews showed that the overarching “get-tough” and “repressive” policy are not necessarily founded on empirical evidence of an increase in prescription drug sales or use, but more as a product of the interplay of both internal and external politics and the prevailing socioeconomic order.

Instead of borrowing extensively from or being influenced by repressive Western drug laws and perspectives, Nigerian policymakers on prescription opioids should take control of the process by drawing up a home-grown policy that is less intrusive and punitive in nature for better outcomes. A mental sea change is required to understand the intrigues of Western power in Nigeria’s politics and political economy to avoid the continuous symptomatic failure of drug policy.

The politics and economic influence of the United Nations, USA and Western powers, as well as the axiom of moral panic of prescription drugs scares within the Nigerian environment, are particularly significant in the making of the emerging hawkish policy on prescription drugs in Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how practical research can be undertaken into sensitive issues within the criminal justice system having cognisance of the needs of those subject to the research process.

A mixed methods design which was complicated due to the subject matter being explored, that of historical reporting of sexual offences. Confidential questionnaires and focus group method utilised, but in constant contact with specialised victim support service to ensure rights of victims understood and interwoven into the design.

Even though there are some very sensitive areas within the criminal justice system where it is believed research is difficult to undertake, it can be achieved by constant reference to the needs of the victim and strict confidentiality. Given the right circumstances and approach, research into what has been previously considered areas of difficulty can be researched effectively.

Due to the research methods explored an utilised, a template for research methodology can be seen which can be transferred into any other sensitive topic that requires research. In addition, by undertaking this method, previously unheard voices of victims of historical crimes can be utilised to inform official policy and practice. However, a limitation of the approach can be the low number of respondents wishing to take part.

Victims have an opportunity to influence public policy. The methods utilised “opens up” the possibility for replication of research into other sensitive areas of the CJS. The methods utilised involved a number of Criminal Justice Agencies which assisted in maximising their understanding of victims experiences thorough the partnership approach. The research methods and results influencing training methods of the police as first responders to such incidents.

The social implications of this paper are that it will encourage other researchers not to be afraid of what appears to be “hard to reach” and sensitive topics in terms of social science research. This will allow for greater numbers of marginalised individuals and victims to engage and influence the criminal justice system, thereby influencing public policy and improving the way victims of crime are treated.

This paper is one of the few, if any, that explores ethical problems and sensitive topics such as historical reporting of sexual offences. It will have resonance for those who wish to undertake similar types of research.

This study aims to examine personal factors that drive the initiation of an online firestorm, an online collaborative attack against a brand that usually occurs when a brand fails or engages in misconduct.

A structured questionnaire is used for data collection. Via an online panel, 303 questionnaires are completed. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling.

Civic engagement and, to a lesser extent, narcissism explain intentions to initiate online firestorms. Individuals’ inherent concern for others and for ethical issues prompts them to punish a brand publicly, with the expectation that other individuals will follow and that the brand will feel compelled to react. Misconduct-related appraisal factors, such as severity, proximity, moral inequity and outrage, can amplify the effect of civic engagement.

Future research should investigate whether the findings hold for different types of misconduct, cultures and other forms of narcissism.

By providing managers with a better understanding of the motivations for launching an attack, this study offers guidance on managing a brand when an online firestorm occurs.

Whereas previous research has focused on external drivers of online firestorms, this study builds on the prosocial behaviour literature to analyse the individual characteristics prompting the initiation of an online firestorm.

Deciding the best course of treatment for a drug or alcohol user can be a complex one. Continuing our look at harm reduction and abstinence, we ask what the best plans are for Nigella, a young woman with mental health problems who uses heroin to prevent recurring self‐harm. In a refreshing and challenging critique Lesley Don explores the decision‐making process towards that treatment. Should Nigella stop her heroin use? If she does, will she self‐harm? Which harm is more desirable? And why, as professionals, do we seek one solution over another?

The purpose of this paper is to assess the institutional mechanisms for combating doping in high-level sport, including the trend toward using legalistic frameworks, and how they contribute to notions of deviance.

A historical approach informed by recent criminological adaptations of genealogy was utilized, using primary and secondary sources.

Three time periods involving distinct frameworks for combating doping were identified, each with their own advantages and limitations: pre-1967, post-1967 up until the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999, and post-1999.

This study contextualizes the recent legalistic turn toward combating doping in sport, bringing greater understanding to the limitations of present anti-doping practices.

‘Binge drinking’ has been the subject of national concern and there are an increasing number of government initiatives to tackle it. The publicity and hyperbole that it receives has prompted the question as to whether the issue is another ‘moral panic’. The evidence is examined and the authors suggest that there are real grounds for concern.

This paper aims to draw together research which links the moral panic about the “adipose” body during the first five years of the millennium to the worsening mental health of US teens. Noting the way medical advocacy biased the news coverage in the quality press in the UK, the USA and Canada through its emphasis on weight gain in child and youth populations, it reviews evidence of a relationship between eating disorders, body dissatisfaction and the mental health of teens.

Building on research which suggests that teens ' misperception of their body can impact their mental health, the paper proposes reflexive embodiment, defined as the way an individual interprets and evaluates their own body morphology in relationship to the medical profession’s articulation of norms for weight classes, as a new construct for exploring the impact of the medical debates about obesity.

Using data sets from the US Youth Risk Behavior Survey gathered in 2001 and 2007 to compare both weight status and weight class accuracy, the study finds evidence that teens ' perceptions of their bodies have changed more than their actual weight. Noting a complex relationship between teens ' misperception of their weight status and mental health risks associated with depression and suicide, the paper explores ways that the medical stigmatization of the adipose body, and the ensuing consequences of gendered weight bias, have consequences for teen well-being.

This case study only provides an exploratory analysis of an hypothesis suggested by the theory of reflexive embodiment.

Refocus health professions on the mental health of teens.

Evidence of health implications of reflexive embodiment adds to a growing critique of medicalization of adipose body morphology.

The analysis of data contributes to a growing concern about medical stigmatization of “fat” bodies as unhealthy.