05107nam a22006255i 4500 978-981-97-4272-1 DE-He213 20251030113059.0 cr nn 008mamaa 240924s2024 si | s |||| 0|eng d 9789819742721 978-981-97-4272-1 10.1007/978-981-97-4272-1 doi HM811-816.2 HM661-696 JKV bicssc SOC026000 bisacsh JKV thema Bartholomew, Robert E. author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut 84824 Social Panics & Phantom Attackers [electronic resource] : A Study of Imaginary Assailants / by Robert E. Bartholomew, Paul Weatherhead. 1st ed. 2024. Singapore : Springer Nature Singapore : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. XX, 350 p. 1 illus. online resource. text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda The Bogeyman: An Introduction to Phantom Assailants -- The British Needle-Spiking Panic: A Crime in Search of Criminals -- ‘Welcome to the World of AIDS’: HIV Needle Panics -- The London Monster: An Eighteenth Century Spiking Scare -- Phantom Slashers: From Out of the Shadows -- Mad Gassers and Ethereal Terrorists -- Serial Pet Killer Panics: From the Yorkshire Dog Poisoner to the Croydon Cat Killer -- The Annoyers: Mysterious Sprayers, Pitters, Biters & Crackers -- Beyond Belief: Of Monkey Men and Genital Thieves. “This engaging book will resonate with scholars, students, and the general public. As I see it, this enterprise is a slam-dunk.” ―Erich Goode, Sociology Professor Emeritus, Stony Brook University, New York, USA, and co-author of Moral Panics "A thorough account of a myriad of horrifying and society-shaking crimes perpetrated by monstrous boogeymen – psychopaths, satanists, sexual deviants, witches, enemies of the state... Probably, none of these crimes actually happened." ―David Scott, writer & producer for Discovery, History, & National Geographic This book provides an accessible overview of one particular type of social panic: that of the phantom attacker. Such panics are characterised by outbreaks of sensational claims of attacks by mysterious figures that seem to emerge from nowhere, attack their innocent human and animal victims, only to vanish without a trace. Taking the recent wave of needle-spiking reports in Europe as a starting point, this book does more than just catalogue such outbreaks historically and geographically. It also ties the phenomenon of phantom assailants to the moral panics literature. Meticulously investigating archival sources, the authors examine the social construction of social panics and unearth the parallels between contemporary episodes and historical antecedents in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Focusing on the sociohistorical and -cultural context, they uncover the role of mass media in creating and perpetuating these panics, which respond to anxieties pervading societies at particular points in history. Written in a lively style, this book is not only of interest for scholars and students of sociology, criminology, social psychology, media studies and history but also appeals to a lay audience interested in urban legends and true crime. Robert E. Bartholomew is Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. A sociologist and Fellow for the Center for Skeptical Inquiry, Robert critically investigates pseudoscience, collective behavior, and popular myths. Paul Weatherhead teaches research and critical thinking skills to international students in Manchester, UK. The author of Weird Calderdale, Paul has also written for Psychology Today and The Skeptic. Deviant behavior. 67954 Social control. 59530 Mass media and history. 72240 Social psychology. 59087 Mass media and crime. 73748 Sociology. 57193 Knowledge, Sociology of. Deviance and Social Control. 67956 Media and Communication History. 72242 Social Psychology. 59087 Crime and the Media. 73749 Public Sociology. 78913 Sociology of Knowledge and Discourse. Weatherhead, Paul. author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut 84825 SpringerLink (Online service) Springer Nature eBook Printed edition: 9789819742714 Printed edition: 9789819742738 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4272-1 ZDB-2-SLS ZDB-2-SXS 63622 63622