TY - BOOK AU - Glassner,Barry TI - The culture of fear: why Americans are afraid of the wrong things SN - 9780465003365 (pbk.) AV - HN59.2 .G58 2009 U1 - 302.17 22 PY - 2009/// CY - New York PB - Basic Books KW - Social perception KW - United States KW - Social problems KW - Anxiety KW - Fear KW - Social conditions N1 - "Updated for our post 9/11 world"--Cover; Includes reader discussion guide; Includes bibliographical references and index; Dubious dangers on roadways and campuses: how fears are sold -- Crime in the news: tall tales and overstated statistics -- Youth at risk: faulty diagnoses and callous cures -- Monster moms: on the art of misdirection -- Black men: how to perpetuate prejudice without really trying -- "Smack is back": when presidents and the press collude, the scares never stop -- Metaphoric illnesses: how not to criticize the establishment -- Plane wrecks: small danger, big scare -- Final thoughts: the martians aren't coming -- New fears for a new century: and some old ones updated N2 - In the age of 9/11, the War on Terror, financial collapse, and around-the-clock coverage of child abductions, our society is defined by fear. Glassner shows that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk, and he exposes the price we pay for social panic; In the age of 9/11, the War on Terror, financial collapse, and around-the-clock coverage of child abductions, our society is defined by fear. Glassner shows that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk, and he exposes the price we pay for social panic ER -