Publication (142 pages).

Implementation
In the case of hoarding, moral regulation is most often implemented through a ‘clean-up’
process. Hoarding cases are introduced to a crew who removes all items in the house so
that the hoarder can look through them while being coached to decide what to throw
away. A large group of people is amassed to assist, including family, community members,
religious figures, safety personnel, waste removal professionals, organizers, and occasionally
counsellors, therapists, or psychiatrists. This team is meant to work with the person
committing the behaviour to rid their living space of excess goods by instilling new
decision-making behaviours. This process is often introduced by family members wanting
an intervention to change the behaviour of a hoarder, but it may be prompted by municipally
imposed fines or the threat of jail. Often the hoarding participant is not willing to
part with the goods and finds the intervention an invasion of privacy. This highlights the
impact of an outside moral regulation being imposed on a person with hoarding behaviour.It
is interesting to note the methods that are used to disseminate moral
claims of hoarding to the general population. This includes using media
including reality television, the formation of self-proclaimed experts
such as professional organizers, and the creation of
self-help literature. These methods allow claims
to be introduced and adopted by thegeneral
population, engraining them
into the minds of its members.
The media
The media play a large role in the dissemination of the claims that suggest
hoarding is a morally wrong behaviour. Indeed, society today is greatly influenced
by the media; in this day of lower rates of religion, citizens need a
place in which to seek ideas of what is right and wrong. The media provide
this by creating news outlets and print media, which may include newspapers,
magazines, billboards, and also by using radio and television. They
provide content that implies a particular reaction that cues the audience
members to accept or decline the behaviour as moral. The problem is
that media is often crafted in certain ways that may not reflect reality.
Reality television
The recent phenomenon of reality television has impacted the dispersion of morals
through segments on various subjects, including some lesser-known behaviours
such as hoarding. I focus on the reality television impact on hoarding and morality
because it is the most prominent form of media dealing with hoarding and it is the
most disseminated and accessible. There do exist accounts of hoarding in other news
media; however those reports are isolated and tend to focus less on human
morality and more on state regulation. Newspapers often
report property disputes between neighbours or
a property owner and the state,
and those ac-
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