That's not an explanation. I think one explanation might be that society needs a Boogeyman to keep people fearful and easily controlled. From the Communists to the Satanists to alien abductors to sex offenders, there has to be a menace (whether real or not). Every night, CNN neglects news to show two hours designed to get the audience worked up and anxious over a missing child* or a particularly heinous murder.
____' *Always a little girl, blonde and cute if possible.