Chapter23 Collective Behavior & Social Movements

Collective Behavior &
Social Movements
Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Copyright 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Studying Collective
Behavior
Collective behaviorActivity involving a
large number of people that is unplanned,
often controversial, and sometimes
dangerous
Examples: Mobs, riots, panic, mass hysteria,
and social movements

Studying Collective
Behavior
Collective behavior is diverse
A wide range of human action
Collective behavior is variable
Why do some rumors catch on, but others
dont?
Much collective behavior is transitory
Disasters, rumors, and fads come and go
quickly.

Collectivity
A large number of people whose minimal interaction
occurs in the absence of well-defined and
conventional norms
Localized collectivityPeople physically

close to one another
Dispersed collectivity (or mass behavior)
People who influence one another despite
being spread over a large area

How Collectives Differ
from Social Groups
Collectives are based on limited social
interaction.
Interaction in mobs is limited and temporary.
Collectives have no clear social boundaries.
Little sense of unity compared to social groups
whose members often share a common identity
Collectives generate weak and
unconventional norms.
Mobs often destroy and act spontaneously.

Crowds
A temporary gathering of people who share a common
focus of attention and who influence one another
Blummer identified 4 types, we add a 5th:

A casual crowd: people on a beach
A conventional crowd: a college classroom
An expressive crowd: a church service
An acting crowd: people fleeing from a fire
A protest crowd: a college student sit-in

Mobs and Riots
MobA highly emotional crowd that

pursues a violent or destructive goal
A lynch mob
RiotA social eruption that is highly
emotional, violent, and undirected
Sports riots, race riots, riots related to social
injustice

Explaining Crowd Behavior
Le Bons contagion theory
Crowds exert hypnotic influence over their
members. People surrender to a collective
mind as its members rid themselves of
inhibitions and act out, and the crowd
assumes a life of its own.
Critical review
Crowd actions result from the intentions and
decisions of specific individuals.
Not necessarily irrational

Convergence theory: The crowd doesnt
generate the action, but rather the
members themselves stimulate the action
of the crowd.
Example: Neighborhood groups concerned
about crime and want to do something about it
Critical evaluation
Some people do things in a crowd that they
would not have the courage to do alone.
Crowds can intensify a sentiment simply by
creating a critical mass of like-minded people.
Turner & Killians emergent-norm theory
People in crowds have mixed interests.
In less stable crowds (expressive, acting, and
protest), norms might be vague or changing.
Critical evaluation
Crowd behavior reflects the desires of
participants, but is also guided by norms that
emerge as the situation unfolds.

Mass Behavior
Collective behavior among people dispersed over
a wide geographical area
Rumor and gossip

Public opinion
Propaganda
Fashions and fads
Panic and mass hysteria

Rumor and Gossip
RumorUnconfirmed information people
spread informally, often by word of mouth
Thrives in a climate of ambiguity
Is unstable
Is difficult to stop
GossipRumor about peoples personal
affairs
Rumors spread widely, but gossip is more
localized.
A means of social control
Too much gossip is discouraged.

Public Opinion & Propaganda
Public opinionWidespread attitudes
about controversial issues
Some people have no opinion at all.
Even on some important issues, a majority of
people have no clear opinion.
PropagandaInformation presented with
the intention of shaping public opinion
Thin line between information and propaganda
Not all propaganda is false.

Fashions and Fads
FashionA social pattern favored by a large
number of people
Traditional style gives way to changing fashion in
industrial societies.
Veblen: Conspicuous consumptionpeople buying
expensive products to show off their wealth
FadsAn unconventional social pattern that
people embrace briefly but enthusiastically
Sometimes called crazes

Panic & Mass Hysteria
PanicA form of collective behavior in
which people in one place react to a
threat or other stimulus with irrational,
frantic, and often self-destructive
behavior
Mass hysteriaA form of dispersed
collective behavior by which people
respond to a real or imagined event
often with irrational and even frantic
fear

Disasters
An event, generally unexpected, that causes
extensive harm to people and damage to property
Natural disaster
Flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc.
Technological disaster
Oil spills, industrial accidents
Intentional disaster
War, terrorist attacks, genocide

Eriksons Research
Three conclusions about the
consequences of disasters:
Disasters are social events.
Social damage is more serious when an event
involves a toxic substance.
Social damage is most serious when the
disaster is caused by others.

Types of Social Movements
Social movementAn organized activity

that encourages or discourages social
change
Alternative: Least threatening, limited
change for a limited number of members
Example: Planned parenthood
Redemptive: Selective focus, radical
change
Example: Some religious organizations

Types of Social Movements
Reformative: Limited social change,

targets everyone
Example: Equal rights amendment
movement
Revolutionary: The most extreme, seeks
basic transformation of society
Example: Ultra-conservative political
movements

Figure 23.1
Four Types of Social Movements
There are four types of social movements, reflecting who is changed and how great the change is.
Source: Based on Aberle (1966)
Claims Making
The process of trying to convince the public and
public officials of the importance of joining a social
movement to address a particular issue
For a social movement to form, some

issue has to be defined as a problem that
demands public attention.
Usually, claims making begins with a
small number of people.
Example: AIDS

Explaining Social Movements
Deprivation theory: Social movements
seeking change arise among people who
feel deprived
Relative deprivationA perceived
disadvantage arising from some specific
comparison
Critical evaluation
Theory suffers from circular reasoning
Focuses exclusively on the cause, telling us
little about movements themselves

Kornhausers mass-society theory: Social
movements attract socially isolated
people who feel personally insignificant.
Movements are personal as well as political,
giving people with weak social ties a sense of
purpose and belonging.
Critical evaluation
No clear standard for measuring the extent
to which we live in a mass society
Explaining social movements in terms of
people hungry to belong ignores the social-
justice issues that movements address

Smelsers Structural-Strain Theory
1. Structural conduciveness
2. Structural strain
3. Growth and spread of an explanation
4. Precipitating factors
5. Mobilization for action
6. Lack of social control

National Map 23.1
Virtual March: Political Mobilization across the United States
Resource-mobilization theory: No social
movement is likely to succeed or even get off
the ground without substantial resources
Critical evaluation
Powerless can promote change if they are
organized and have committed members
Overstates the extent to which powerful people
are willing to challenge the status quo

Culture theory: The recognition that social
movements depend not only on material
resources and the structure of political power
but also on cultural symbols.
Critical evaluation
Does not address how and when powerful
cultural symbols turn people from supporting the
system toward protest

Explaining Social
Movements
Political-economy theory: Social movements
arise within capitalist societies because the
capitalist economic system fails to meet the
needs of the majority of people.
Critical review
Doesnt explain the recent rise of social
movements concerned with non-economic
issues such as obesity, animal rights, or the state
of the natural environment

New social movements theory: Recent
social movements in the postindustrial
societies of North America and Western
Europe have a new focus.
Most of todays movements are international.
Tends to focus on cultural change and
improving social and physical surroundings
Draws support from middle and upper classes
Critical evaluation
Tends to exaggerate differences between
past and present social movements

Gender and Social
Movements
Gender figures prominently in the
operation of social movements.
In keeping with traditional ideas about
gender in the US, more men than women
tend to take part in the public life
including spearheading social
movements.
Freedom Summer in 1964

Stages of Social Movements
Stage one: Emergence
Perception that something is
wrong
Stage two: Coalescence
Defining itself and going public
Stage three: Bureaucratization
Organizing rationally to get job
done
Stage four: Decline
Success
Organization failures
Leaders sell out
Crushed by repression

Figure 23.2
Stages in the Lives of Social Movements
Social movements typically go through four stages. The last is decline, which may occur for any of five reasons.

Social Movements:
Looking Ahead
Scope of social movements is likely to
increase.
Protest should increase as groups gain
political voice.
Information revolution means anyone can be
well-informed.
Technology uniting people in social
movements

Summing Up
Theories of Social Movements
Controversy and Debate
Political Involvement of Students Entering College in 2006: A Survey
First-year college students are mostly younger people who express limited interest in politics.

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Collective Behavior &

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Localized collectivityPeople physically

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Blummer identified 4 types, we add a 5th:

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

MobA highly emotional crowd that

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Rumor and gossip

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Social movementAn organized activity

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Reformative: Limited social change,

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

For a social movement to form, some

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis

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