One of the major reasons for the stigma based around rape ‘accused’ is the social and emotional

ostracism they have to suffer. Due to gravity of the crime, even the individuals ‘accused’ of it face
numerous hardships even if they may be later acquitted. In such times it is often witness that even
the family members of one’s family members abandon an individual. The reason for this is that when
such an accusation is laid, that individual is observed as socially unfit. This leads to other members of
the society forming a collective consciousness. This transformation of individuals into a crowd leads
to them into possessing a mind which would be quite distinct from each of their individual mind.
Thus, in a ‘crowd’, a person would act, thing and postulate differently from what they would
individually (LeBon’s theory)1. Such collective consciousness then becomes part of the individual
consciousness of the members of the crowd. In sociology thought and sentiment are considered as
different functions of the human brain. In crowd thinking we can infer that the thought arising out of
collective consciousness influences the sentiments of an individual. This then physically manifests
itself in material forms2. The issue with crowd thinking is that when people come together their
thoughts and opinions at several instances arise from fragmented evidences, biases and prejudices
and there is rarely a systematic establishment of evidence. It is also penned down that crowd
functions on ‘narrow sample of temporary gatherings’ 3. The next issue towards ‘crowd gatherings’ is
that such institution is majorly influenced by ‘resonance’. The works of Alvin Gouldner puts forward
that the collective consciousness of a crowd resonates with the idea which provides the strongest
appeal. This has an enormous scope to be controlled by deeply held sentiment of the individuals of
the crowd4. Another aspect of crows thinking is that the though generated in the crowd it strongly
affixed in the minds of individual that even if the notion is denied or falsified by other rational or
prudent methods, they still tend to take a longer duration to be rectified in individual consciousness
of a person5. In India we witness that there are, no doubt, several instances when a crowd comes
together to solve a purpose stemming from judicious causes backed by rational corroboration. But
there are equally alarming instances of crowd thinking and convergence of their consciousness
leading to tragic event. The reason for this is that a ‘crowd’ is rarely a meeting of individual
consciousness and their development into a collective consciousness. It is more of a set of
preconceived dispositions due to which individuals think alike rather than coming together 6. The
works of Neil Miller and John Dollard provide reasoning for predispositions. They establish that such
tendency manifest in three stages. The first stage is deprivation of opportunity, such deprivation
leading to frustration which then turns into aggression to rectify the deprivation 7. In case of rape
accused we can understand that in a crowd they individual develop a common frustration regarding
insecurity in a society and anomie. But as mentioned earlier, such are largely based on personal
prejudice and inadequate evidence. Hence from the crowd behavior we can analyses how it
stigmatizes a person who is only ‘accused’ of the crime.

1
McPhail, C. (1989). Blumer's theory of collective behavior: the development of a non-symbolic
interaction explanation. The Sociological Quarterly, 30(3), 401-423, from Bon, L. G. (1964).
Psychologie des foules. Revue Française de Sociologie, 5(4), 484.
2
Halbwachs, M. (1939). Individual consciousness and collective mind. American Journal of
Sociology, 44(6), 812-822.
3
McPhail, C. (2017). The myth of the madding crowd. Routledge.
4
McPhail, C. (2017). The myth of the madding crowd. Routledge. See Gouldner, A. W. (1967). Enter
Plato: Classical Greece and the origins of social theory.
5
McPhail, C. (2017). The myth of the madding crowd. Routledge. From Mackay, C.
(2012). Extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds. Simon and Schuster.
6
McPhail, C. (2017). The myth of the madding crowd. Routledge.
7
Flugel, J. C. (1943). MILLER, NEIL E. and DOLLARD, JOHN: Social Learning and Imitation (Book
Review). The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 24, 85.
In order to understand the effects of stigma around any individual it is necessary to understand what
stigma is. Goffman described ‘stigma’ as:

“some attribute or characteristic that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social
context”8

Stigmatising someone includes creation of stereotypes. This results into ostracism and restriction of
usage of resources for an individual. The individual cannot equally access resources existing in a
society as the resources are controlled by the general will of the society. Stigmatisation is
accompanied by discrimination and imposed solitude which are intangible in nature. Stigma is a
concept which is related to power. This is the very reason for its profundity. A single accusation leads
to development of stigma like a wildfire. Simultaneously the accused becomes deprived of power
which leads to creation of disparity in which one can control the resources provided by a society 9.

At the same time stigma can also be regarded as a ‘construct’. It is the brand imposed on someone
my by the society. Stigmatised individuals fall in either of the three classifications:

i. They are poor partner of social exchange

ii. They carry medical deformity
iii. They are member of outgroup that can be exploited by an ingroup10

Stigmatization leads to negative stereotypes in two manners. First regarding dimensions of

competence and second warmth. Here competence implies the higher status in a society and
warmth deals with hostility of an individual with other individuals of a society. 11

Stigmatization is exercised and affects an individual of a society in four manners. These are the most
prominent methods how stigmatization manifests itself in life on an individual.

1. The first and most commonly witnessed is negative treatment and discrimination. As
previously mentioned, this form of practice includes formation of circumstances where a
stigmatized person is not allowed equal opportunity. This discrimination is prevalent in
spheres of education, workplace, public services and housing market 12. The stigmatization
becomes prevalent even if there is no individual prejudice. This is because one loses the
control on society any average person in the society possesses.
2. The second is Expectancy Confirmation Processes13. In this phenomenon the negative
stereotypes of a person affect the behaviour, thoughts and actions of the targeted
individual. This than leads to metamorphosis of one’s behaviour into the pre conceived
expectation of erroneous behaviour which finally leads to ‘expectancy-consistent’ changes in
the accused’s self-perceptions14. The most dismal part of this phenomena is that the

8
Goffman, E. (1997). Selections from stigma. The disability studies reader, 203, 215.
9
Major, B., & O'brien, L. T. (2005). The social psychology of stigma. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 56, 393-
421.
10
Kurzban, R., & Leary, M. R. (2001). Evolutionary origins of stigmatization: the functions of social
exclusion. Psychological bulletin, 127(2), 187.
11
Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. The handbook of social
psychology, 2(4), 357-411.
12
Crandall, C. S., & Eshleman, A. (2003). A justification-suppression model of the expression and
experience of prejudice. Psychological bulletin, 129(3), 414.
13
Jussim, L., Palumbo, P., Chatman, C., Madon, S., & Smith, A. (2000). Stigma and self-fulfilling
prophecies. The social psychology of stigma, 374-418.
14
Fazio, R. H., Effrein, E. A., & Falender, V. J. (1981). Self-perceptions following social
interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(2), 232.
 targeted does not need to be aware of such perception of others and is yet mould by it 15.
While considering this aspect we must also take into account effects on mental health of a
person. An ordinary individual of a society when exposed to sudden changes of public
perceptions creates deteriorating effect of one’s self-esteem and morale. Thus, the cycle of
prejudice leads to a person conforming to a greater and proportionate extend as it is being
imposed.
3. The next is stigma formulating as an identity theft. In this condition the it is said that the
stigma affects an individual on the basis of how others interpret the actions, motives and
thoughts of that individual. Here the identity of a stigmatised is at risk due to ‘attributional
ambiguity’. In such case there is a fear that an individual is judged by the prejudices and
creates a dilemma whether one is evaluated on basis of the individual’s personal identity or
the tarnished social identity16.
4. The last manner is Automatic Stereotype Activation-Behaviour. In this phenomenon it is
stated that there are associative linkages between stereotypes and behaviour. Thus, when
stereotypes are actively administered it led to assimilation of a behaviour that resembles the
stereotype17. This arises after the stigmatised has gained awareness of the stereotype.

15
Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D., & Berscheid, E. (1977). Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On
the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 35(9), 656.
16
Major, B., Spencer, S., Schmader, T., Wolfe, C., & Crocker, J. (1998). Coping with negative
stereotypes about intellectual performance: The role of psychological disengagement. Personality and
social psychology bulletin, 24(1), 34-50.
17
Bargh, J. A., Chen, M., & Burrows, L. (1996). Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait
construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of personality and social psychology, 71(2),
230.
In India it is often said that media is the fourth pillar of democracy. Journalism is an office of
gravity. When we talk about crowd thinking, we must understand the cause of it. The media
is responsible for dissemination of information. While national media cover huge incidents,
regional media cover other incidents which rather pass unnoticed by individuals of a different
locality. The issue underlying the subject of media is with regard to media trials. Media trials
is a phenomenon where a person is declared convict before the result of trial of Courts or
other tribunals. Media trials are also regarded as the major cause of mob instigation and in
aggravated situation can also lead to lynching 18. The reason for crowd thinking is that in
several instances media relies on unidimensional or fragmented piece of evidence which
influences the sense of right and wrong in ‘crowd’ 19, the reason being that crowd opinion
supersedes personal opinion. Media in several instances leads to prejudgment of criminal
trials. There lies an element of unauthenticity due to the fact that media trials often lack the
jurisprudence of courts. The media acts as a catalyst to formation of predispositions and leads
to formation of stereotypes. This leads to creation of perceptions. Such perceptions are even
continued after acquittal by the proper judicial authority. It is said that negative news led to
activity in information processing part of brain due to which such news tend to shape
attitudes more powerfully20. In the life account delivered by Sarvjeet Singh Bedi, he says that
it was just one social media post due to which the media started using that post in order to
create judgement against him. Here it is noticeable that the conception of the crowd was build
on inadequate evidence and later turned out be false 21. In light of this context, we must
understand that dissemination of wrong information is a major cause of ‘crowd thinking’ 22.
The issue with media performing media trials is that it leads to diminish in confidence of
existing Judiciary and promotion of transitional judicial mechanism which shape public
opinions and ideas relating to justice and punishment which in several circumstances may run
contrary to existing legal framework23.

18
Sastry, V. V. L. N. (2020). Media Trials and Criminal Justice in India. Idea Publishing.
19
Chowdhury, S. (2013). Media trials: Contradiction to media ethics. In Conference Paper.
20
Schemer, C. (2012). The influence of news media on stereotypic attitudes toward immigrants in a
political campaign. Journal of Communication, 62(5), 739-757.
21
Saxena, S. (2021). Specious Jury of Social Media. The Daily Guardian.
22
Krumm, J. S. (2013). Influence of social media on crowd behavior and the operational environment.
ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE FORT LEAVENWORTH KS SCHOOL OF
ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES.
23
Laplante, L. J., & Phenicie, K. (2010). Media, Trials and Truth Commissions:
‘Mediating’Reconciliation in Peru's Transitional Justice Process. International Journal of Transitional
Justice, 4(2), 207-229.