Localized Collectivities: Mobs, Riots and Crowd Behavior

Sociologists study collective behavior in localized collectivities to understand how individuals and groups relate in close proximity to one another. Understanding the role, purpose, and social impact of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior in localized collectivities is vital background for all those interested in the sociology of collective behavior. This article provides an overview of the main principles of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior; collective behavior in localized collectivities; and the sociological study of collective behavior. Specific examples of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior in localized collectivities will be included. The main criticisms of crowd behavior theories will be explored as will the impact of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior on society.

Keywords Acting Crowds; Casual Crowds; Collective Behavior; Collectivity; Contagion Theory; Conventional Crowds; Convergence Theory; Crowd; Dispersed Collectivity; Localized Collectivity; Mob; Riot

Social Movements> Localized Collectivities: Mobs, Riots & Crowd Behavior

Overview

The following is an analysis of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior in localized collectivities. Sociologists study collective behavior in localized collectivities to understand how individuals and groups relate in close proximity to one another. Understanding the role, purpose, and social impact of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior in localized collectivities is vital background for all those interested in the sociology of collective behavior. This article explores the role of mobs, riots, and crowds in localized collectivities in four parts:

• An overview of the main principles of mobs, riots & crowd behavior, collective behavior in localized collectivities, and the sociological study of collective behavior;
• Examples of mob, riot, and crowd behavior in localized collectivities;
• An analysis of the main criticisms of crowd behavior theories; and
• A brief discussion of the impact of mobs, riots, and crowd behavior on social life.

The Main Principles of Mobs, Riots, & Crowd Behavior

Mobs, riots, and crowds impact society in numerous ways. The collective behavior of mobs, riots, and crowds in localized, or close, collectivities can be an agent of spontaneous social change, an affirmation of existing social mores and structures, or a powerful tool of individual transformation. A crowd refers to a temporary gathering of people united by a common focus. Individuals in crowds are known to influence each other. Sociologist Herbert Blumer divided crowds into five distinct categories:

• The casual crowd,
• The conventional crowd,
• The expressive crowd,
• The acting crowd, and
• The protest crowd.

Blumer based his crowd scheme largely on the emotional intensity of crowds (Snow, 2001).

Casual crowds refer to large groups of people gathered temporarily in the same location. Interaction among members of casual crowds tends to be minimal. Examples of casual crowds include groups of commuters or farmers' market shoppers. Conventional crowds refer to groups of people who come together for a scheduled event. Members of conventional crowds, such as those attending concerts or graduations, tend to interact with one another as they have a shared focus of attention and interest. Expressive crowds refer to groups of people who come together to release emotions with other individuals who have similar feelings. Examples of expressive crowds include those that gather at funerals to mourn or gather after an election to celebrate a victory.

Acting crowds refer to high-emotion, high-energy, and high focus collectivities. Acting crowd behavior works to change the external environment outside of the crowd. Acting crowds, which include mobs and riots, have the potential to engage in violent or destructive behavior. Mobs, such as those involved in lynching, refer to a highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal. Riots refer to an emotionally frenzied crowd that lacks focus, direction, and purpose. Riots tend to be violent and lack direction and leadership. The protest crowd differs from the other four types of crowds in the potential for high variability of emotions among crowd participants or members. Ultimately, crowds are often identified and characterized by their dominant or prevailing emotion, their level of interaction, and the level of shared focus.

Crowd behavior, including mobs and riots, is explained through three main theories:

• Contagion theory,
• Convergence theory, and
• Emergent-norm theory.

Contagion theory, developed by sociologist Gustave LeBon in the late twentieth century, argues that crowds exert a hypnotic effect over their participants. According to contagion theory, crowd participants abandon personal responsibility and identity and engage in irrational and anonymous acts. Convergence theory argues that crowds are formed of like-minded people united for a particular shared purpose. According to convergence theory, crowd participation and behavior expresses existing beliefs and positions and is not irrational. Emergent-norm theory, which is the middle ground between contagion theory and convergence theory, argues that crowd behavior is both representative of member values and beliefs as well as shaped by the emotion and energy of the moment (Macionis, 1995).

Collective Behavior in Localized Collectivities

Collectivities refer to distinct human groups united by shared social structures, identity, and customs. Collectivities include large numbers of loosely connected people. Common examples of collectivities include ethnic groups and indigenous communities. They tend to have a designated leader representing common interests, and are characterized by their shared beliefs, values, social structures, decision-making, tradition, and activities. Members of collectivities are aware of and tend to cultivate the separate identity of their group.

There are two types of collectivities: localized collectivities and dispersed collectivities. Localized collectivities refer to people who are in close proximity to one another and act in unison and consort. Localized collectivities or groups have continuous contact among members. Examples of localized collectivities include mobs, riots, crowds, small towns, fraternities, army units, and school cliques. Dispersed collectivities describe mass behavior. Mass behavior, which has become more common under the influence of mass media, refers to the collective behavior of individuals settled or dispersed over a large geographic area. Collective behavior and communication differs in the two types of collectivities. For example, dispersed collective communication and behavior includes communication in small groups and networks. In contrast, localized collective communication is characterized by continuous contact as seen in mob, riot, and crowd behavior.

Collectivities, social groups, and social movements exhibit collective behavior and collective communication. That said, collectivities, social groups, and social movements also have intrinsic differences. Collectivities are recognized as distinct from social movements and social groups in three main ways:

• Collectivities have limited social interactions.
• Collectivities lack social boundaries.
• Collectivities tend to have weak or unconventional norms and beliefs.

In contrast, social movements and social groups differ from collectivities in their high degree of internal organization and their intentional efforts at organization and goals of social change (Macionis, 1995).

The Sociological Study of Collective Behavior

In the nineteenth century, social scientists began studying the phenomenon of collective behavior. Sociologists, including Gustave Le Bon, Emile Durkheim, Robert Park, Talcott Parsons, and Herbert Blumer, analyzed the activities of social movements, social groups, mass gatherings, collectivities, audiences, mobs, riots, and crowds to learn how these collective behaviors work and what impact collective behavior has on society.

LeBon

Social psychologists, namely Gustave Le Bon, 1841–1931, developed the field of collective psychology to understand and analyze the political and social turmoil of twentieth century Europe. Le Bon developed the contagion crowd theory to explain the way in which crowds exert a hypnotic effect over their participants. During Le Bon's time, industrialization birthed changes in social structures, work practices, and political leadership. Individuals and groups responded with protests, violent strikes, riots, and challenges. LeBon explained the social psychology of these emerging crowds in his book The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1896).

Durkheim

Emile Durkheim (1855–1917), a French sociologist concerned with the problem of the individual and society as well as issues of solidarity and social cohesion, developed the theory of collective conscience to explain social cohesion and collectivity. Collective conscience refers to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes that operate to unify sectors of society. Durkheim developed his theories in part to understand the protest and social unrest of his day. To learn how individuals related to society, Durkheim studied the social structure, societal norms, laws, community, groups, and societal roles in French society. In his research, Durkheim looked for the causes and functions of social phenomena. Durkheim's theories of cultural differentiation and structural differentiation influenced nineteenth century sociology by explaining how cultural and social structures could foster both social cohesion and divisiveness. Cultural differentiation refers to the idea that the degree of consensus over cognitive orientations and cultural codes among the members of a population is related to their interpersonal interaction, level of emotional arousal, and rate of ritual performance. Structural differentiation refers to the idea that the degree of differentiation among a population is related to the level of competition among these actors, the rate of growth in this population, the extent of ecological concentration of this population, and the rate of population mobility (Turner, 1990).

Park

The concept of collective behavior, developed by sociologist Robert Park (1864–1944), shaped how sociologists studied individual and group action throughout the twentieth century. Collective behavior refers to spontaneous action and conduct that occurs outside of existing social structures, laws, conventions, and institutions. Examples of collective behavior include religious pilgrimages, race riots, protest marches, audiences, and lynch mobs. Robert Park brought journalistic experience and perspective to his sociological practice. According to Park, sociologists were "super-reporters" who gathered layers of social information and data. Park studied collective behavior and interaction in Chicago's most urban neighborhoods. Much of his research centered on the everyday lives of urban African Americans (Beauregard 1997).

Parsons

Sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) developed the conceptual scheme of the collectivity, a term which refers to distinct human groups united by shared social structures, identity, and customs. Parsons described collectivities in his book, The Social System (1951), and defined the parameters and characteristics necessary to create collectivities. For example, he believed that a group must have loyalty toward the members and the group. Examples of loyalty include attachments, rights to relational rewards, and a commitment to act based on a system of shared standards and symbols. Parsons considers attachment to refer to a generalized system of expectations in regards to the gratifications to be received from a category of persons and generally favorable attitudes toward the qualities and performances associated with them. Members must accept the preservation of the collectivity as a moral obligation. Parsons argued that members of a collectivity must develop a system of sanctions to direct behavior. The system should stress certain actions as desirable in the collectivity and identify other actions as hostile to and ultimately incompatible with the collectivity (Treudley, 1953).

Blumer

Sociologist Herbert Blumer (1900–1987) also contributed to the study of collective behavior. Blumer divided crowds in to the five distinct categories described above. Blumer based his crowd scheme on largely on emotional intensity of crowds. Blumer developed the theory of symbolic interactionism to explain why people come together in relationships and groups. Building on the work of his teacher George Herbert Mead, Blumer's symbolic interactionism locates meaning in social interactions. According to Blumer, social actors ascribe meaning to things based on the their social interactions (Snow, 2001).

The Social Identity Model

At the close of the twentieth century, sociological study of collective behavior was grounded in the social identity model of the crowd. Stephen Reicher, a sociologist focused on the study of social identity collective action, crowd behavior, and mass mobilization, developed the social identity model (SIM) of crowd behavior to explain how members of a crowd act in terms of their shared social identity. The social identity model of crowd behavior asserts that shared identity of crowd participants determine the normative limits of crowd action and the extent of crowd participation. This model of crowd behavior replaced earlier sociological explanations of crowd behavior as irrational in nature (Reicher, 1996). Ultimately, sociological study of collective behavior, particularly study of mob, riot, and crowd actions, is an evolving and growing area of inquiry responsive to current events and tensions in society.

Applications

Examples of Mob, Riot, & Crowd Behavior in Localized Collectivities

Examples of mob, riot, and crowd behavior fill the popular and academic presses. The following examples of mob, riot, and crowd behavior are representative of the countless incidences of collective behavior in localized collectivities. The examples touch on the race, class, and political tensions that fuel much mob, riot, and crowd behavior.

Mob Behavior

Mob behavior is also often associated with race or class issues. For example, race-related lynching was common mob behavior, particularly in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the United States, during the first half of the twentieth century, lynching, which refers to a mob-style execution without due legal process, became synonymous with mob action against African Americans. From 1889–1918, 3,224 lynchings were reported in the United States. The Southern states were the location for 2,834 lynchings. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) reports that 78.2 percent of the lynching victims were African American and 21.8 percent were Caucasian. Ultimately, sociologists find that mob actions serve many functions in society. Mob behavior may stand in place of government rule. Mob actions and mob decisions, in some instances, replace due legal process. Mobs see themselves as protesters against inefficient or biased courts (Peretti & Singletary 1981).

Riot Behavior

The 1990 poll-tax riot, which occurred in London, England, is an example of the way peaceful demonstrations can turn into violent riots. In March 1990, a protest group gathered in Kensington Park in response to the Conservative government's plan to replace tax rates, based on property values, with a poll-tax or a flat-rate tax plan. On the morning of the demonstration, organizers took a public vote, through a public address system and a show of hands, regarding whether or not to continue with a nonviolent demonstration. The demonstration took the form of many small marching groups chanting antitax slogans. The march was initially considered by police to be nonviolent and good-humored. As the march continued, the group became larger and physically congested and crowded.

The result of the crowding was an escalation in frustration and violence. Some of the marchers used verbal abuse and smoke bombs against the police. Police reinforcements were called, and police ordered marchers to disperse. Fights between marchers and police ensued. Marchers began en masse to resist police direction. The focus of the marchers shifted from antitax and antigovernment to antipolice sentiments. Emotions escalated. The shared energy and the emotion of the crowd became fixed on the police. The crowd norms shifted from peaceful to violent. Looting and property damage resulted. The poll-tax riot is an example of a demonstration that contained little or no conflict during its early stages but developed into a riot of about five thousand angry and violent people (Stott & Drury, 2000).

Crowd Behavior

The 1998 Football World Cup Finals in France was the setting for divergent examples of collective crowd disorder. English fans and Scottish fans, equally invested in the outcome of the soccer games, exhibited different norms of behavior during the World Cup Finals. During the hours before England's first game against Tunisia, a large number of English fans engaged in collective acts of violence and hostility against local youth displaying support for the Tunisian soccer team. Police recorded bodily attack and property damage by English soccer fans. In contrast, Scottish soccer fans maintained norms of nonviolent positive interaction with fans of other national teams. The international media recognized the Scottish soccer fans for their restrained and positive crowd behavior. Researchers interested in crowd behavior study sports fans to understand the relationship between the individual and the group in emotional situations. Researchers who study soccer "hooligans" (as the English soccer fans have been called) and collective crowd disorders, such as collective sports fan violence, question whether violent crowds emerge from the crowd's group-mind or from individual influence (Stott, Hutchison & Drury, 2001).

Viewpoints

Crowd Behavior Theories

The dominant theories of crowd behavior, namely contagion theory and convergence theory, are criticized for their uncompromising perspectives on crowd behavior.

Contagion Theory

Contagion theory, developed by sociologist Gustave Le Bon in the late twentieth century, argues that crowds exert a hypnotic effect over their participants. According to contagion theory, crowd participants abandon personal responsibility and identity and engage in irrational and anonymous acts.

Critics of contagion theory find issue with the theory's assertion that crowds are irrational entities. They argue that crowd behavior is often the result or product of rational fear or rational feelings of betrayal or injustice. In addition, critics note that contagion theory prioritizes the power of the group over the power or agency of the individual. In practice, individuals do begin and direct crowd activity. Contagion theory does not account for or explain the normative limits maintained in most crowd behavior (Stott, Hutchison & Drury 2001).

Convergence Theory

Convergence theory argues that crowds are formed of like-minded people united for a particular shared purpose. According to convergence theory, crowd participation and behavior expresses existing beliefs and positions and is not irrational. Critics of convergence theory argue that the theory does not recognize situations in which crowd members, embracing the anonymity of crowds, behave in dominant, vocal, or provocative ways that they would not outside of the crowd situation. Thus, individuals in crowds of like-minded people may behave outside of their behavioral norm.

Emergent-Norm Theory

Emergent-norm theory, which is the middle ground between contagion theory and convergence theory, argues that crowd behavior is both representative of member values and beliefs as well as shaped by the emotion and energy of the moment. Ultimately, emergent-norm theory is embraced by a wide-range of social scientists for being a balanced, nuanced, and practical explanation of crowd behavior (Macionis, 1995).

The Impact of Mobs, Riots, & Crowd Behavior on Social Life

In the final analysis, mobs, riots, and crowd behavior have a strong impact on social life. Most importantly, mobs, riots, and crowd behavior in localized collectivities have the long-term potential to positively influence social life. In some instances, riots, mobs, and crowds, such as those protesting social or racial injustice, have resulted in or brought about social change such as equal access and rights to education and fair wages regardless of race or gender. The French Revolution of 1789 and the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, both filled with mobs, riots, and crowd situations, are associated with social change and ideological transformation. A riot, mob, or crowd situation can provide an opportunity for individuals without social standing or political power to effect social change (Stott & Drury, 2000).

Terms & Concepts

Acting Crowds: High-emotion, high-energy, and high-focus collectivities.

Casual Crowds: Large groups of people gathered temporarily in the same location.

Collective Behavior: Spontaneous social actions that occur outside of prevailing social structures and institutions.

Collectivity: A distinct human group united by shared social structures, identity, and customs.

Conventional Crowds: Groups of people who come together for a scheduled event.

Crowd: A temporary gathering of people united by a common focus.

Dispersed Collectivities: Individuals settled or dispersed over a large geographic area.

Expressive Crowds: Groups of people who come together to release emotions with other individuals who feel similarly.

Localized Collectivities: People who are in close proximity to one another act in unison and consort.

Mob: A highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal.

Riot: An emotionally frenzied crowd that lacks focus, direction, and purpose.

Social Life: The relationships, trends, and belief systems that unite individuals and groups.

Society: A group of individuals united by values, norms, culture, or organizational affiliation.

Sociology: The scientific study of human social behavior, human association, and the results of social activities.

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Suggested Reading

Broussard, A. S. (2011). New perspectives on lynching, race riots, and mob violence. Journal Of American Ethnic History, 30, 71-75. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=59244454

Jean, S. (2005). Warranted lynchings: Narratives of mob violence in white Southern newspapers, 1880-1940. American Nineteenth Century History, 6, 351-372. Retrieved June 15, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database, Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=19235714&site=ehost-live

Khalil, E. (1995). Nonlinear thermodynamics and social science modeling: Fad cycles, cultural development and identificational slips. American Journal of Economics & Sociology, 54, 423-438. Retrieved June 15, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database, SocINDEX with Full Text http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9510130637&site=ehost-live

Phillips, R., Frost, D., & Singleton, A. (2013). Researching the riots. Geographical Journal, 179, 3-10. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=85166057

Russell, G. & Arms, R. (1995). False consensus effect, physical aggression, anger, and a willingness to escalate a disturbance. Aggressive Behavior, 21, 381-386. Retrieved June 15, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database, Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=11975224&site=ehost-live