Conforming to Riots: Psychological Elements of the Crowd
I. Introduction
From a psychological standpoint, crowds have been an elusive, enigmatic and frightening phenomenon; the nuances of the human mind in itself are elements which evoke worlds of study on their own, let alone the implications of attempting to analyze a collective of such minds. However, the study of crowd psychology is obligatory to enhance knowledge in many a field of study, including criminology and political science. Society’s growth and recession alike hinge on the numerous phenomena we can attribute to crowds, and hence the subject lends itself much importance to examine. This paper will go on to scrutinize what is known of crowd psychology, the phenomena involved with crowd psychology, and what aspects of the human mind may cause them. Because of its dramatic effects and political implications, the instance of rioting will also be examined in conjunction with social psychology, with especial focus on the 2011 London Riots due to their relevancy to the times.
II. Summary – History and the two theories of crowd psychology
The years were from 1789 to the very end of the eighteenth century, and France was submerged in political unrest. The working class was drenched in its collective anger from years of oppression and meant to take the country back; mercilessly, they dragged out, imprisoned and subsequently beheaded thousands the wealthy of France, along with any even mildly suspected sympathizers. It was from this event that philosophers and politicians alike came to see the power of the crowd and why it must be vital to understand how to acquiesce one; hence, crowd psychology emerged.
Today, two forms of crowd psychology theory have emerged: Classic theory an...
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...NSYLVANIA STATE UNIV UNIVERSITY PARK APPLIED RESEARCH LAB.
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He theorised that society stayed united for two reasons “mechanical solidarity” and “organic solidarity.” Premodern societies were held together by mechanical solidarity, a type of social order maintained through a minimal division of labour and a common collective consciousness. Such societies permitted a low degree of individual autonomy, Social life was fixed and there was no sense of self. They had retributive legal systems, so no individual action or deviance from the common conscience was tolerated. In industrialised modern societies, Durkheim says mechanical solidarity is replaced with organic solidarity.
Wilson and Kelling (2010) believed that the failure to address disorder in a timely manner fostered a belief among community residents that all mechanisms of formal and informal control had failed. This breakdown in community order is proven to be a negative influence on the relationship between the police force and the citizens it is sworn to protect. A community with minimal disorder results in community pride an...
In the teleplay “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” written by Rod Serling, a small street in a suburban American town falls into chaos after they lose all electricity, and in an effort to find the monsters responsible, they become animals. They search for a scapegoat and let their imagination et the best of them because “for a moment their fear almost turns their walk into a wild stampede, but Steve's voice, loud, incisive, and commanding, makes them stop. ‘Wait a minute...wait a minute! Let's not be a mob!’ The people stop as a group, seem to pause for a moment, and then much more quietly and slowly start to walk across the street. ” (Rod Serling ?). The residents of Maple Street fall victim to herd mentality. They rush to find the culprit and they lose all sense of moral and judgement. As they are about to become a mob they listen to Steve as he advises that they do not. All the residents of Maple Street listen to him and sure, he did use mob mentality to do good, but it goes to show the amount of power one man holds. Similarly, in the article “Why People Follow The Crowd” written by ABC News, the article discusses how humans are willing to let go of their beliefs, morals, and
Categorization and social projection are important ways that people can more successfully navigate their social environment. People need to know that there are others in their in-group that share the same attitudes and behaviors as they do. If people are unable to determine how many people in their environment share their attitudes and behaviors, it would be more difficult to engage in social situations without offending or contradicting others. For this reason, false consensus is an interesting offshoot of this important idea. The false consensus effect refers to the fact that people have a tendency to over-estimate the proportion of the population that shares an attitude or behavior with him or her.
The characteristics of a group are determined by its elements. The mob that stormed the Bastille on July 14th, 1789 was a group of citizens that were fierce, enraged, and blood-thirsty. To the people of Paris, the Bastille was a symbol of brutality and totalitarian power. It was hated because of the many stories that had emerged from its walls of horrible torture and brutality. To the people of Paris who stormed the Bastille, the prison which was the symbol of the absolute monarchy which France had been suffering under for so long. They were tired of being treated unfairly and not having a voice in most of the political affairs during the time period. They wanted "life, liberty, fraternity" and were determined to fulfill their wishes of a fair ruling system by means of force or agreement. Unfortunately, citizens had to resort to the use of force to gain what the felt lacked.
Desfor Edles, Laura and Scott Appelrouth. 2010. “Émile Durkheim (1858-1917).” Pp. 100 and 122-134 in Sociological Theory in the Classical Era. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
In several cases, folks will set aside their personal beliefs or adopt the opinion of the rest of the group. Group-think influences police officer’s rationalizations for some behaviors by preventing members of the group from reconsidering their beliefs while causing them to ignore warning signs. Group-think tends to occur more in situations where group members are very similar to one another and is more likely to take place when a powerful and charismatic leader commands the group. Situations in which the group is placed under extreme stress or where moral dilemmas exist also increase the occurrence of groupthink (Haberfeld et al.2014,
In order to better comprehend and adjust to the dynamics of principles that are applicable to everyday life, we must consider that the reality of social influences
History repeating itself, manslaughter, homicide, and riots are all forms of mob mentality of which is shown in the book, A tale of Two Cities, by Charles Darnay. Taking the given words into consideration, ask yourself “Have I ever taken part in mob mentality?” The answer for most people will be “yes”. Mob mentality is something so negative and aggressive yet we still take a part in it. We are all too caught up in trying to fit in with everyone else, that we make it into something that isn’t such a big deal to us.
Durkheim, Emile. On Morality and Society. Ed. Robert Bellah. The University of Chicago Press, 1973.
It amazes me at how much influence crowds can have over individuals. Deindividuation is stated as “the process of losing one’s sense of personal identity, which makes it easier to behave in ways inconsistent with one’s normal values” (Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini, 2015, p. 394). This type of behavior can be seen in protests that turn into riots. One may be there for the protest, but get caught up in the action as a riot starts, therefore looting stores even though one knows that is not the proper way to behave. In your PowerPoint you state that in groups’ people “lose their self-identity and loosen inhibitions” (Lettwich, 2017, PowerPoint). This is especially true since in crowds people feel a sense of anonymity. Our textbook states that
... (2004). Contemporary Perspectives on the Psychology of Attitudes (Rev ed.). Florence, KY: Psychology Press.
Emile Durkheim argued that we live in a pluralistic society meaning that we have a diverse set of moral values and that we do not agree on many. Take, for example, murder which everyone automatically believes to be wrong and yet it may actually be justified in some situations for example self-defence, in war and euthanasia. This is what may be debated morally whereas in law murder is not looked lightly upon. The case of Diane Pretty illustrates this where ...
Talcott Parsons have some of the same views of sociology as Durkheim, he believed that social life is categorized by social cooperation. Parsons also believed that commitment to common values maintains or...