Society with a cause for worry in shock (5)
I believe the answer is:
scare
'shock' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scare that I've seen before include "Startle" , "Frighten or intimidate" , "Frighten, alarm" , "Greatly frighten" , "Cause fright, alarm" .)