This kind of scene was by no means unusual, what was different in this case was the fact that press made it front-page news. The media called it a day of terror, it was claimed that the youths had beaten up the entire town and were a mob hell bent on destruction. The youths where described as affluent young people in rival gangs distinguished by the types of bike that they drove (Muncie, 2001). .
However, Cohen's research showed no evidence of the reported type of gang. He found that any rivalries where more likely to be based around regional identities and in fact motorbike and scooter owners where a minority. The youths in question were not affluent, most of them being semi skilled manual workers. Cohen's research also showed that the violence and vandalism, which occurred that weekend, was minimal. The most typical offence was threatening behaviour. A few days after the event a journalist admitted that the reports had been some what exaggerated (Cohen, 1972).
The events of that weekend where seen as being symptomatic of the younger generation. Subsequent reports of routine crimes described the offenders as mods' or rockers' and further associated these groups with crime. Following press speculation, the weekend after the incident the press, police and locals where out in force anticipating a repeat of the previous weekends mayhem. Eventually trouble did erupt and it rapidly escalated. Cohen's work suggested that the expectations of trouble played a significant part in creating the disturbance (Croall, 1998). .
The intense media reaction to this incident set in motion a train of events. It initiated public concern that left the police obliged to increase surveillance. This resulted in an increase in arrests, court cases and heavy fines, which appeared to validate the media reaction. It also emphasized any antagonism between two groups and their differences and this encouraged the youths to place themselves in one of the opposing groups.