Chapter 22, Collective Behavior

And Social Movements

 Characteristics Of Collective Behavior

 Crowds
 Riots
 Collective Preoccupations
 Social Movements
 Diversity, Globalization and Social Change
Characteristics of Collective
Behavior

1. Represent the actions of groups of people,

not individuals.
2. Involve new relationships that arise in unusual
or unexpected circumstances.
3. Capture the changing elements of society
more than other forms of social action.
Characteristics of Collective
Behavior

4. May mark the beginnings of more organized

social behavior.
5. Exhibit patterned behavior, not the irrational
behavior of crazed individuals.
6. Usually appear to be highly emotional, even
volatile.
Characteristics of Collective
Behavior

7. Involve people communicating extensively

through rumors.
8. Are often associated with efforts to achieve
social change.
Crowds

 Involve groups of people coming together.

 Usually transitory, volatile, and have a sense of
urgency.
 Distinctly social, not individual, forms of
behavior.
Panic

Three factors characterize panic situations:

1. A perceived threat.
2. Possible entrapment.
3. A failure of front-to-rear communication -
people at the rear of the crowd push to the
front of the crowd.
Three Types of Riots

 Commodity riots - property, not people, is the

object of attack.
 Communal riots - violent outbursts in which
civilians riot against other civilian groups.
 Political riots - against a government policy or
treatment by government officials.
Characteristics That Make Cites
Prone to Riots

 Economic deprivation of racial-ethnic minority

groups.
 Failure to address the grievances of the rioting
group.
 A rapid influx of new populations.
Characteristics That Make Cites
Prone to Riots

 A precipitating event and failure of social

control mechanisms.
 The resources to initiate and sustain rebellious
activity.
What Stops Riots?

 Goals of the protest groups have been

satisfied.
 Actions of social control agents end violence.
 Political situation changes.
 Discontent has been regulated by the
expansion of relief services.
Collective Preoccupations

 Often begin within a small group of people

involved in face-to-face interaction.
 Involve some aspect of social change.
 Provide opportunities for participants to belong
to a group while differentiating themselves from
other groups.
Types of Collective Preoccupations

 Fads provide a sense of unity and a sense of

differentiation.
Examples: inline skates, hula hoops, streaking,
popular heroes, words and phrases (yo!, cool).
 Fashion can mark inequality between groups.
Examples: hairstyles, clothing, jewelry.
Types of Collective Preoccupations

 Hysterical contagions involve the spread of

symptoms of an illness when there is no
disease present.
 Scapegoating commonly targets racial
minority groups and other groups perceived by
the dominant group to be a threat.
Type of Social Movements

 Personal transformation movements

hippie, new age
 Social change movements
environmental and animal rights movements
 Reactionary movements
Aryan Nation, Right-to-Life
Elements Necessary
for Social Movements

1. Pre-existing communication network.

2. Pre-existing grievance.
3. Precipitating incident.
4. Ability to mobilize.
Theories of Social Movements

 Resource mobilization theory - social

movements develop when people can compete
for and gain resources needed for mobilization

 Political process theory - social changes

provide the conditions that spawn social
movements.
Theories of Social Movements

 New movement theory links culture, ideology,

and identity to explain how people in groups
frame events, and how new identities are
forged within social movements.