Bodgies, widgies and moral panic in Australia 1955-1959
(2004) Bodgies, widgies and moral panic in Australia 1955-1959. In Bailey, C. and Cabrera, D. and Buys, L., Eds. Proceedings Social Change in the 21st Century Conference, Centre for Social Change Research.
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Abstract
In the latter half of the 1950s, concerns that Australia’s teenagers, and especially working-class teenagers, were becoming delinquent reached a crescendo. Law-abiding citizens observed with concern bodgies and widgies congregating in milk bars and on street corners. Violence and sexual license were their hallmarks, they believed, with alarmist and sensationalist media reports having established and fuelled these understandings. Without recourse to reliable statistics, many people embraced the opinion that a substantial proportion of the country’s teenagers were uncontrollable. Some advocated punishments such as sending ‘bodgies to the Nullarbor to work on a rail gang’ (Perth Daily News, 7 October, 1957), sending them ‘to sea under a tough [navy] skipper’ (Perth Daily News, 16 November, 1957) and inflicting harsh corporal punishment upon them. Others, however, were more concerned about the adoption of preventative measures. Parental alcohol consumption and gambling, lack of discipline, high wages and youthful access to unsuitable comics, horror picture shows, and after 1956, rock and roll music were among the factors that generated delinquency, they suggested. Their views, popularized by sensational press reports, contributed to a ‘moral panic’ throughout the Australian community
| Item Type: | Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Subjects: | 370000 Studies in Human Society > 370100 Sociology > 370107 Social Change 430000 History and Archaeology > 430100 Historical Studies > 430101 History - Australian |
| ID Code: | 633 |
| Deposited By: | Callan, Paula |
| Deposited On: | 21 December 2004 |
| Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2004 Keith Moore |