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Penny Dreadfuls: The Effects Of Sensationalized Murder

521 Words3 Pages

Because of sensationalized murder, the upper class began to worry about the affects of sensationalized murder on juveniles and a moral panic ensued. According to Cohen, a moral panic is registered as a threat to the established order and results in public hysteria. This happened when the upper class became concerned with the effects of Penny Dreadfuls on juvenile society. A Penny dreadful is similar to the modern television series with each publication representing an episode in the saga. According to Flanders, Penny dreadful found success with stories of true crime, especially murder. Furthermore, Penny Dreadfuls were then blamed for inspiring the youth to commit crimes. Parker argued in 1853, that Penny dreadful tempted and gratified the morbid appetites of the youth population. However, when a youth did …show more content…

In January 1856, the Daily Telegraph reported on a case of a boy who stole 10 shillings and despite his mother 's attempts to reform him the boy kept stealing because he was reading “low books.” Ironically sensationalized youth crime made publishers of Penny Dreadfuls aware of the growing number of adolescents reading their publications. Penny Dreadfuls as a result started incorporating children in their stories like in the case of The Boy Detective.
Another effect of sensationalized murder is the idea of a grandiose killer. Jack the Ripper is the most recognizable sensationalized murder to come out the Victorian period. The tells of Jack the Ripper seem to transcend time. Even to this day countless theories emerge about the identity of Jack the Ripper. The murders inspired their own study known as riperology. Consequently, Jack the Ripper set the standards for how extensively a serial killers is sensationalized. Although Jack the Ripper was not the first serial killers, his murders gained more notoriety than previous serial killers for three reasons. First, his victims

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