The author developed and popularized the term ( Moral Panic ) and stated that moral panic occurs when “a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.”
Cohen used an example to explain by mentioning the story of two youth subcultures: the “mods” and the “rockers” who initially existed peacefully side by side.
Both groups were the first two youth subcultures in consumer society and were mainly concerned with style, music, and having fun.
To summarize what happened, one holiday weekend, both the mods and rockers had a party where minor acts of vandalism occurred between the groups.
This led to the news media arriving at the next party involving the mods and rockers, ready to report any disturbances. Once again, minor vandalism happened, and the media published highly exaggerated reports of the extent of violence between the two groups.

This generated public concern and the police responded by policing future parties involving the mods and rockers, resulting in more arrests for non-violent deviant behavior.

Hence, the mods and rockers came to see themselves as enemies, and all of this was fueled by exaggeration published by the media.