Collective Behavior

11908 words 48 pages
Show More
Chapter I: The Study of Collective Behavior
A. What Is Collective Behavior?
As we review these pages for the final time sections of Los Angeles are in flames in response to a jury verdict exonerating police whose beating of an African American man was captured on videotape. Supporters and opponents of abortion take to the streets daily. Mexico City searches for answers to a gas explosion that leveled a 40 square block area. The number of men wearing pony tails and one earring and the number of people saying and understanding "yo, dude" seems to be increasing. These diverse actions fall within the area sociologists call collective behavior.
Some fields in sociology are relatively easy to define and their meaning can be grasped immediately, …show more content…

To begin with the topic has some highly practical aspects. In 1979 at a rock concert by the "Who" at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium 11 people died. They were among many thousands waiting in line to enter the stadium. They were crushed to death when a stadium door opened and the crowd surged forward. Better architectural design and crowd management might have avoided this tragedy. In a related example there is sometimes needless loss of life and injury when persons inside a smoke filled auditorium panic and all run for the exit, rather than exiting in an orderly fashion. Knowledge of how people respond in such situations can lead to physical design and the training of personnel so that "unnecessary" damage does not occur.
In more contentious settings such as prison riots, (e.g. Attica in 1971 or civil disorders such as. Watts in 1964, Detroit and Newark in 1967) knowledge of crowd behavior and social movements can reduce loss of life and injury and help prevent conflict from escalating in a destructive way. Most of the loss of life during the 1960s urban civil disorders was caused not by protestors, but by control agents who, lacking experience in crowd control and holding discredited or inappropriate ideas about crowds, frequently overreacted. (Marx 1970)
The importance of understanding behavior in disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tidal waves, and nuclear accidents is obvious. Research, education and planning can make it more likely

Related

  • BSHE 500 Take Home Exam 1
    1694 words | 7 pages

    ecological framework was presented in class as providing many possible avenues for research and program implementation. Using the required readings and lectures, write about the pros and cons of a social ecological framework for understanding health behaviors and designing health promotion programs. Your analysis should lead to a conclusion about the framework. The social ecological framework comprises of person-focused and environment-focused interventions designed to promote health. The social ecological….

    Show More
  • unit 7
    3331 words | 14 pages

    Sociology is the study of society and the different social structures within it. Sociology examines the role of the individual within society; it is viewed as the scientific study of society P1: An introduction to sociological perspectives. Functionalism: According to the functionalist perspective of sociology, each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society's stability and functioning as a whole. For example, the government provides education for the children of the family, which….

    Show More
  • The Culture Influence on the Collectivism of Chinese Customers Behavior in the Fast-Food Industry
    3934 words | 16 pages

    sciencedirect.com Energy Procedia Procedia 13 (2011) 4055 – 4062 Energy 00 (2011) 000–000 Energy Procedia www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia ESEP 2011: 9-10 December 2011, Singapore The Culture Influence on the Collectivism of Chinese Customers Behavior in the Fast-food Industry Yu Wang a, Changbo Shi a, Yalan Gu b, Yong Du c,* Tourism Management & Cuisine School, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, P.R. China b School of Cross Cultural Communication, Newcastle University, United Kingdom c School….

    Show More
  • Analysis of Dynacorp Case
    2263 words | 10 pages

    team members and middle managers are not compatible. However, only if the interests of the company can be realized, the interests of the teams can also be met. Power Power as defined by Jeffery Pfeffer is, "the potential ability to influence behavior, to change the course of events, to overcome resistance and to get people to do things that they would not otherwise do" (Pfeffer, 1992, 30). There are three variants to power -influence, authority and coercion. Authority in organization is associated….

    Show More
  • A Critical Review of Leadership Research Development
    4931 words | 20 pages

    leadership outcomes such as follower motivation and group productivity (Yukl and Van Fleet, 1992). For the weaknesses of the behavioral approach, one criticism is that the two types of behaviors are too abstract to describe complex leadership styles; another refers to the inconsistent link between task- and relation-oriented behavior and outcomes such as morale, job satisfaction, and productivity. It is not clear how leaders’ styles are associated with performance outcomes (Bryman, 1992). The third criticism….

    Show More
  • Labor Relations
    2013 words | 9 pages

    MG240 DL Labor Relations Research Assignment 1. Define the term “collective bargaining” and list and describe four issues that are mandatory components of a collective bargaining agreement. Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between the employer and a group of employees in which terms and conditions of employment are decided. Employees are usually represented in bargaining by a union. The major subjects of bargaining are as follows, compensation, personnel policies….

    Show More
  • Legal Strikes and Illegal Strikes Under Labor Law
    2772 words | 12 pages

    restrict or limit output”. According to the “Labour Relations Act, 1995” the strikes are legal only if some preconditions are met such as the collective agreement must have expired, a strike vote must have been held and 50% of the members are in favour of the strike, and a conciliation officer must have been….

    Show More
  • Social Psychology Definition Paper
    1114 words | 5 pages

    distinguish between social psychology and sociology. While there are many similarities between the two, sociology tends to look at social behavior and influences at a very broad-based level. Sociologists are interested in the institutions and culture that influence social psychology. Psychologists instead focus on situational variables that affect social behavior. While psychology and sociology both study similar topics, they are looking at these topics from different perspectives. Explain….

    Show More
  • Corporate Political Strategies and Employment at Will
    5843 words | 24 pages

    Industry concentration is one of the important determinants of participation level (either individual or collective) in these strategies. When using collective actions, organizations can put forth a unified front, enrich the political climate, lower cost of their political actions, and make sure that industry and environmental demands are on the same page. The disadvantages of collective actions are free-riding, solving commitment problems are difficult, and the distribution of resources (Ozer….

    Show More
  • The Affect on Emotional Intelligence on Effective Leadership
    2810 words | 12 pages

    FIT - BUS 5450 Assignment 1: Research Analysis and Proposal The Affect of Emotional Intelligence on Effective Leadership “Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage one’s own and others’ in order to guide one’s behavior and achieve goals” (Salovey, & Mayer, 2005). In simple words, EI is the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions, that is, to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person. Building on the work of Mayor and Salovey (1997)….

    Show More

Popular Essays