***What is Collective Behavior?
Collective behavior means social processes and events which do not reflect existing social structure but which emerge in a instant way. Collective behavior takes place when norms are absent or unclear, or when they contradict each other.
Examples of collective behavior: religious revival meetings, a panic in a burning theater, a sudden widespread interest in a website or clothing item
Collective behavior differs from group behavior in three ways:
1.collective behavior involves limited and short-lived social interaction while groups tend to remain together longer
2.collective behavior has no clear social boundaries; anyone can be a member of the collective while group membership is usually more discriminating
3.collective behavior generates weak and unconventional norms while groups tend to have stronger and more conventional norms
Traditionally, collective behavior in sociology includes four forms: the crowd, the public, the mass, and the social movement. While there is a degree of debate over what should be included under the label of "collective behavior" among sociologists, often included are additional behaviors like: rumors, riots, trends..
***Crowds
***Crowds
A crowd is a gathering of people who share a purpose or intent and influence one another. Crowds commonly occur in modern life. Most sporting events, concerts, and other performances result in the gathering of crowds.
Blumer (1951) distinguishs 4 types of crowds:
1)casual - loose collection of people with no real interaction (e.g, people at the mall)
2)conventional - deliberately planned meeting (e.g., community meeting organized by political leaders)
3)expressive - depicts a crowd at an emotionally charged event (e.g., a political rally or soccer game in Europe or Latin America)
4)Acting - a crowd intent on accomplishing something (e.g., fans rushing a stage during or after a concert)
When crowd behavior is directed toward a specific, violent end, the result is a mob. Mobs tend to be highly emotional. Violent crowd behavior without a specific goal is a riot. Because riots do not have a specific end, it is assumed that their intention is to express general dissatisfaction.
***Panic
Panic is a sudden terror which dominates thinking and often affects groups of people. Panics typically occur in disaster situations, such as during a fire, and may endanger the overall health of the affected group. Architects and city planners try to consider the symptoms of panic in design and planning, using simulations to determine the best way to lead people to a safe exit.
2. New materials I learn
***Copycat suicide(모방자살)
A copycat suicide is defined as an following of another suicide that the person attempted and is on television and in other media.
A spike of emulation suicides after a widely publicized suicide is known as the Werther effect, following Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.
The well-known suicide serves as a model, in the absence of protective factors, for the next suicide. This is referred to as suicide contagion. They occasionally spread through a school system, through a community, or in terms of a celebrity suicide wave, nationally.
To prevent this type of suicide, it is common in some countries for the media to discourage suicide reports except in special cases.
Example: In Korea, 2008. 10. 02. famous Korean actress Choi Jin Sil commited suicide. She get married and divorced and come back to acting life. She had tough life. She suffered from sudden changes of life. So she did it.
3. Discussion
Collective behavior has short term but it can influence people much. It can influence negatively In suicide case and positively in some cases like collecting fund for poor people and gathering opinion in helping country in natural disaster. There are so many cases of collective behavior in our daily lives.
Can you think of other example of collective behavior? And if you have negative case, how can we reduce the dagerousness?
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