Amplifications of Deviance Surrounding Illicit Drug Use: Conceptualizing a Role for Film

摘要

Few studies have offered conceptual explanations of how or why film portrayals might influence audience perceptions of social issues. Even fewer have conceptualized the processes through which films stand to amplify deviant behaviors and thus contribute to moral panics, or disproportionate responses to social problems. In conceptualizing such processes, the current article draws on social identity, attribution, framing, and disposition theories, examining the manner in which popular films have identified and reified internal and external enemies in the U.S. war on drugs. As the article suggests, films have contributed periodically to moral panics surrounding the use of illicit substances, dramatizing the corruptive influence of racialized "others." The article considers the implications of such portrayals and makes recommendations for future research.