Folk devil
Etymology
Coined by sociologist Stanley Cohen in his 1972 study "Folk Devils and Moral Panics," about media reactions to youth subcultures. "Folk" (Old English "folc," people) and "devil" together name a popular bogeyman.
noun phrase · /FOHK DEV-ul/
A person or group cast as the embodiment of a threat to society, becoming the focus of public fear and outrage.
What it names
The villain a moral panic needs — the scapegoat onto which diffuse anxieties get pinned.
Example
In each panic a new folk devil appears — the comic book, the video game, the dangerous teenager.
Related idea
A moral panic is the wave of collective fear; the folk devil is the figure it fixes on and blames.
See also