Stanley Cohen (sociologist)

Lore & Background

Cohen was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1942, son of a Lithuanian businessman. He grew up as a Zionist and studied Sociology and Social Work at the University of Witwatersrand, becoming involved in anti-apartheid issues. He came to London in 1963, worked as a social worker, and completed his PhD at the London School of Economics on social reactions to juvenile delinquency, studying the Mods and Rockers youth riots through press reactions and interviews. He lectured at Enfield College and Durham University, was influenced by the anti-psychiatry movement, and participated in the National Deviancy Symposium. A project in Durham prison with Laurie Taylor led to several publications, including Psychological Survival: The Experience of Long-term Imprisonment (1972) and Escape Attempts (1976).

From 1972 to 1980, Cohen worked as Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex. In 1980, he moved to Israel to become Director of the Institute of Criminology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working with human rights organizations campaigning against torture and dealing with the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He returned to England in 1996 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was appointed Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE, retiring in 2005. He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1998 and received honorary doctorates from the University of Essex and Middlesex University. He died on 7 January 2013 from consequences of Parkinson's disease.

Reader's Guide

Stanley Cohen's significance lies in his development of the concept of moral panics, which shifted criminology's focus from causes of crime to social reaction and social control. His 1972 study Folk Devils and Moral Panics analyzed how media overreaction to behavior challenging social norms can define and amplify that behavior, creating a deviancy amplification spiral. This work remains influential in criminology and sociology. His later book States of Denial (2001) examined how individuals and societies avoid uncomfortable realities such as poverty, suffering, and injustice, exploring mechanisms of denial among perpetrators, bystanders, and the public. Cohen's career spanned South Africa, England, and Israel, reflecting his lifelong concern with human rights violations, from anti-apartheid activism to work against torture in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He founded the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at LSE and received the first Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Society of Criminology in 2009.

Did You Know?

• Cohen grew up as a Zionist and intended to settle in Israel.
• He studied the Mods and Rockers youth riots by direct interviews and sensational press reactions.
• His book States of Denial was praised by Michael Ignatieff as 'the starting point for all future debate on the subject'.
• He was the first recipient of an Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Society of Criminology in 2009.