Sociology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 23: Collective Behavior, Social Change, Radical Change
Chapter 23-Collective Behavior/Social Movements
Social Movement: Organized activity that encourages or discourages social change.
Collective Behavior: Activity involving a large number of people usually in violation of
established norms(fads, mobs, riots, gossip)
STUDYING COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR
-Hard to study because it is diverse, variable and involves a wide range of human action
Collectivity: A large number of people whose minimal interaction occurs in the absence of
conventional norms. Little or no social interaction, no clear social boundaries, generate weak
and unconventional movements.
LOCALIZED COLLECTIVITIES: CROWDS
Crowd: A temporary gathering of people who share a common focus of attention and who
influence one another.
Casual Crowd: A loose collection of people who interact little if at all(people at an accident)
Conventional Crowd: planned and follows a clear set of norms(lecture)
Expressive Crowd: An event with emotional appeal(new years eve)
Acting Crowd: motivated by an intense, single minded purpose(fleeing a shooting)
MOBS AND RIOTS
Mob: Highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal
Riot: Social eruption that is highly emotional, violent and undirected.
Social change: Well organized masses pose a threat to the power of elites
EXPLAINING CROWD BEHAVIOR
Contagion Theory: crowds exert a hypnotic effect over their members and takes on a life of its
own. Forget about personal responsibility shielded by anonymity of crowd. Crowd actions result
from policies and decisions made by specific individuals
Convergence Theory: crowd behavior comes from the particular people who join in.
convergence of like minded individuals, they express existing beliefs and values.
Emergent Norm Theory: If similar interests draw people into a crowd, distinct patterns of
behavior may emerge. Rules are made as they go along. People take on different roles
DISPERSED COLLECTIVITIES: MASS BEHAVIOR
Mass behavior: Collective behavior among people spread over a wide geographic area
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Document Summary
Social movement: organized activity that encourages or discourages social change. Collective behavior: activity involving a large number of people usually in violation of established norms(fads, mobs, riots, gossip) Hard to study because it is diverse, variable and involves a wide range of human action. Collectivity: a large number of people whose minimal interaction occurs in the absence of conventional norms. Little or no social interaction, no clear social boundaries, generate weak and unconventional movements. Crowd: a temporary gathering of people who share a common focus of attention and who influence one another. Casual crowd: a loose collection of people who interact little if at all(people at an accident) Conventional crowd: planned and follows a clear set of norms(lecture) Expressive crowd: an event with emotional appeal(new years eve) Acting crowd: motivated by an intense, single minded purpose(fleeing a shooting) Mob: highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal. Riot: social eruption that is highly emotional, violent and undirected.
