Is the Western Australian Response to Shark Attacks an Example of a Moral Panic?

Reaction to the attack of sharks in Western Australia (WA), shark rejection is an example of a moral panic. Moral panic is not a new concept in modern society; warning against panic, anxiety, or recognized forms of various threats is a factor in society. Since Stanley Cohen first proposed this concept in 1972, his work includes "Falk Demon and Moral Panic: Creating Mordes and Rock Music" - Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda (Moral · Panic: Social construction)) Deviation).

In response to a series of fatal shark attacks along the coastline of Western Australia, the state government enacted policies to massacre the big sharks from popular beaches. The Burnett government says that these measures will improve public safety and protect the "Western Australian state of life". This week is called "the most deadly shark attack site in the world" and six people will die in two years.

In the last 100 years, there were 20 deadly shark attacks in Western Australia and 7 fatal attacks in the past 3 years. The state government believes that people in Western Australia, especially those who use the ocean, are expecting stronger response to the risk of sharks. We believe that the Western Australians - swimmers, surfers, and divers - who prefer to use the ocean will expect the government to do something and provide more protection. New shark mitigation measures aim to add shark protection to popular beaches in Western Australia. Eight beaches are selected according to three criteria - usage / popularity, seven day patrol coverage of surf life guards and paid life guards, and history of shark witnesses.

Australia is the most deadly shark attack in the world and Western Australia has recently become the most deadly shark attack site in the world and shark stings have increased dramatically in the past 40 years. Since 2000, there have been 15 deadly shark attacks in coastal areas of Western Australia, now divers face the possibility of 16,000 shark bites. On June 28, 1992, Recife, Brazil officially began carrying out shark attacks on the beach (mainly Boa Viagem Beach). Over the past 20 years, a total of 62 victims were attacked, of which 24 died. The last fatal attack occurred on July 22, 2013. Attacks were caused by bull sharks and tiger sharks. The shock of the Recife shark attack was that many of them were fatal - 21 out of 56 people died and the mortality rate was about 37%.