'''Collective behavior''' arefers specialized termto in [[sociology|sociological]] theories about group behavior. The term was first used by [[Robert E. Park]], and employed definitively by [[Herbert Blumer]], to refer to social processes and events which do not reflect existing [[sociology|social structure]] ([[laws]], conventions, and [[institutions]]), but which [[emergence|emerge]] in a "spontaneous" way. Some examples of collective behavior are a religious revival, a panic in a burning theatre, an outbreak of [[swastika]] painting, a change in popular preferences in [[toothpaste]], the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]], and a sudden widespread interest in [[body piercing]]. Since such events occur when social prescriptions are not clear, they exemplify neither conformity nor deviance.
The claim that such diverse episodes all belong to a single field of inquiry is a theoretical assertion with which not all sociologists will agree. However, Herbert Blumer and [[Neil Smelser]] do agree, so that the formulation must satisfy some sociological minds.
