Collective Behavior & Social Change Chapter 16 Collective Behavior & Social Change
Warm-up What is an urban legend? Give an example. How might these connect to collective behavior & collective preoccupations?
Types of Collective Behavior Collective Behavior: spontaneous social behavior that occurs when people try to develop common solutions to unclear situations Collectivities differ from social groups due to limited interaction, no shared norms or unity Crowd: temporary gathering of people who are close enough to interact Casual crowd (spontaneous) Conventional crowd (common purpose) Expressive (no goal, emotional event) Acting (violent)
Mob: emotionally charged collectivity whose members are united by a specific destructive or violent goal Riot: collection of people who erupt into generalized destructive behavior, social disorder Panics: spontaneous, uncoordinated group acting to escape a threat Mass Hysteria: unsupported anxiety shared by people who can be scattered over a wide area
Collective Preoccupations People who rarely meet or interact, yet engage in similar behavior & share an understanding of that behavior Fashions & fads Rumors & urban legend Public Opinion: collection of differing attitudes that members of a public share on a particular issue
Explaining Collective Behavior Contagion Theory: hypnotic power of the crowd encourages people to give up their individuality # of people = anonymity Rapid spread of emotion Suggestibility Emergent-Norm Theory: applies in situations where traditional norms don’t apply, through interactions new norms emerge Recognizes the individual
Value-Added Theory: identifies 6 preconditions necessary for collective behaviors Structural conduciveness Structural strain Spread of generalized belief Precipitating events Mobilization Social control
Explaining Riots After watching the videos you will be applying each example to collective behavior theory, all examples and all theories must be used In each paragraph you will: Explain what happened in the riot/what lead to it Explain the chosen theory Explain how this theory explains what happened
Warm-up What is a social movement? List some social movements that have taken place throughout history
Types of Social Movements Social movement: long-term effort to promote or prevent social change Alterations of various aspects of society over time Reactionary: reverse current social trends Conservative: protect a society’s values from change
Revisionary: improving some part of society Revolutionary: total & radical change of the existing social structure Life cycle of social movements: Agitation Legitimation Bureaucrazation Institutionalization
Explaining Social Movements Relative Deprivation Theory: movements arise when large parts of the population feel socially or economically deprived Resource Mobilization Theory: movements can only occur if people are effective in organizing resources People, leaderships, $, media
Sources of Social Change Values & Beliefs Ideology: system of belief that justifies the social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a group or society Technology Finding new ways to manipulate environment –discovery & invention Diffusion Reformulation: adapting borrowed cultural traits to suit a society’s own needs
Population Physical environment Wars & conquest Increase, decrease, composition, distribution Physical environment Food, reliance on natural resources, adjusting to disaster Wars & conquest Uncommon, brings about greatest change
Resistance to Social Change Ethnocentrism Change that comes from outside the society is met w/ most resistance Cultural lag Norms take time to change in accordance w/ new technology Vested Interest Imperfect present is better than unknown
Theories of Social Change Functionalist Cyclical: societies rise, go through certain changes, then decline Principle of imminent change: society fluctuates between 2 extreme forms of culture Ideational: knowledge & truth sought through religion Sensate: knowledge & truth sought through science Evolutionary: process that moves in 1 direction becoming more complex Equilibrium: change in 1 part of society causes change in all parts
Conflict Marx & Class Conflict: society is divided between those w/ & those w/o power, change occurs when withouts try to gain power Dahrendorf & Social Conflict: focuses on groups besides class (racial, ethnic), revolution is not the only cause of change
Process of Modernization Modernization: process by which society’s institutions become increasingly complex Modernization Theory: more-developed nations modernized bc they were 1st to industrialize, less-developed nations will follow the same patterns Fails to recognized different conditions World-System Theory: world is comprised of 3 types of nations Core: most powerful & developed Peripheral: depend on cores to buy raw materials & for aid Semiperipheral: industrialized but not powerful
Impact of Modernization Positives Higher standard of living Technology Education Negatives Family & religion lose authority Govt plays a large role Technology raises moral & ethical questions environment
Buy a Daughter General reactions Is this a morally acceptable practice? Explain. How might this practice impact a population?