Collective behavior and Social Movement

Introduction
The people behave differently in groups than as indviduals.It means the
mind changes while one is in group. In group,an individual feels himself help less and does what
others do in that group situation.
Many sociologist and psychologists are the view that the group mind is different from individual
mind. The groups feels differently, act in peculiar way and has its own feelings and emotions
Definition
According to Broom and Selznick, collective behavior is spontaneous behavior and it
is a product of unstructured situations. Some types of collective behavior are as follow, crowds,
mobs, riots, mass hysteria, fads and crazes, panic, rumors etc.
According to John J.Maccionis “activity involving a large number of people,often
spontaneous,and sometimes controversial

Characteristics Of Collective Behavior

 Collective behavior normally centre around a phenomenon which is essentially

temporary in nature. Further, it is entirely an unplanned one;

 This type of behaviour is not regulated by any set of rules or procedures;

 Since this behaviour is not bound by any defined norms becomes unpredictable also;
 This kind of behavior is triggered not only by rumours but also guided by
beliefs,hope,fears,enmity and hatered ;
 The event that causes the people to gather in a spot is not an usual event.

Forms of collective behaviour

Crowd behavior
Mass behavior
Public and Public opinion

Crowd Behavior
 , Crowd behavior happens through the process of social interactions and
is guided by unique social norms, which are established by members within a crowd. In
a crowd, social norms can change, and new norms may be established.
According to Horton and hunt “A crowd is a temporary collection of people
reacting to stumbling”
Theories of crowd behavior
Crowd behavior, particularly of the highly irrational and
destructive behavior of the acting crowds, has been a fascinating subject of a study of a
good number of sociologists
The Contagion Thoery
Contagion is a very old term which refers to anything that
spreads from person to person like a disease such as chicken pox or flu. The theory adapted this
idea in a sociological basis and stated as the transmission of ideas or even irrational behavior
collectively displayed by an individual when engaged in a group. It is stated that large number
of people are influenced by the contagious behavior of the group and avoids their individual
responsibility

Herbert Blumer :
He is an American sociologist have conceptualized the collective behavior in
a more specific way. He introduced the term “milling” and according to him during milling,
people become extremely conscious and respond to each other spontaneously avoiding the
external provocations. A person’s independent actions are eliminated through milling which
results in displaying of curious and unreasonable behavioral patterns. Thus in a crowd the
individual behavior of members are converged and they do things which they deemed
impossible. He concluded his findings with the possibility of emergence of a new social
institution or a social change as the result of this extreme collective behavior.

Mass behavior

Mass behavior is a type of social behavior and is defined as collective

behavior among people who are spatially dispersed from one another. Collective
behavior describes the actions, thoughts, and feelings of relatively temporary and
unstructured groups of people. In contrast, a social movement is a large, ongoing group
of people engaged in an organized behavior designed to bring about or resist change in
society

Types of mass behavior

I. Mass Hytersia
 II. Rumors
III. Gossip

Mass hysteria

Mass hysteria is a common term used to describe a situation in

which various people all suffer from similar hysterical symptoms. Hysteria is now viewed
as a psychiatric disorder consisting of signs and symptoms of illnesses with no organic
basis. Mass hysteria is also known as collective hysteria, epidemic hysteria, or mass
psychogenic illness

Rumors

Rumors are unsubstantiated information about a subject that is spread

informally. A rumor is typically a piece of information or a story that has not been verified,
meaning that the person telling it doesn't know if it's true or false.

Public and Public opinion

It is an aggregate rather than a group.The people working on

roads,working in farms,gathering in mosque for prayers are its example.A speaker
addresses a public on radio broadcast.The people gathered on television make a public.

According to Ginsberg ,the word ‘public’”refer to an unorganized aggregation of person

who are bound together by commom opinions,desires,but are too numerous for each to
maintain personal relation with others”

Elements of the public

I. Existence of a problem
II. Discussion on the problem by the people,and
III. Attempting to forms collective opinion on its solution

Public opinion

Wallace and Wallace: “Public opinion consists of the view of the members of a public
on a certain issues
 Ian Roberston “Public opinion is the sum of the decision of the members of a public on a
particular issues”

Crowed

A group of people gathered at some place is known as crowed .These people

might have some interaction with each other.

“According to Wallace “A crowed is a temporary collection of people reading together and

share a common concern.”

 Types of crowed

Casual crowed

This types of crowed is found in street, shopping malls e.t.c with no

purpose.organization or co-operation people can be gaithered by any kind of
movement.

Conventionalized crowed

It occurs when people gather around to witness a event such as cricket match. In
conventionalized crowed all the people have co-follow certain noams and rules
regulation.

Active crowed

This is a aggressive crowed and the people which are in this crowed have common goal
to achieve. It may often convert into a mob or cause destruction in order to achieve aim.

Expressive crowed

In this crowed people get together and shows their emotions physically by dancing ,playing
e.t.c. This crowed have no purpose to achieve

Characteristics
Suggestibility

So , people in a crowed can be highly suggertible people behave emotionally and carried
away by others opinion,slogans ,feelingsand some ionstimes,songs,hateful speeches or
motivational speeches these kind of thing add more suggestibility.

Anonymity

People in the crowed think nobody knows them and their identities are hidden. Just
because sprfead in the crowed . people they could remain unrecognizable and this feelings
leads to irrational behaviour. Anonymity means nobody knows you and or you do not know
any one

Spontainety

The formation of crowed occurred suddenly.This is temporary in nature .Also the member
of the crowed behaves in a sudden manner and they supposed to be impulsive means
acting without thinking

Invulnerability

Invulnerability means unable of being hurt.As in a crowed nobodies knows do anything

in a crowed and nobody will be notice them or judge them.They tend to act freely and
they do not care about social mechanism.Social mechanism means to maintain social
order.

Public opinion

Different scholar define Public opinion differently. Some define it as the opinion of all
people while othrers describe it sas a majority opinion .However public opinion is
primaily a political opinion that concerns the collective life of people. Public cannot
following things :

1. Public is not opinion less .It has an opinion .

2. Public opinion matters in democracy as well as in other form of governance. One
can ignore it at the cost of rebellion,resistance.
 In simple words we can say that public opinion is neither the opinion of all nor it
is the majority opinion . It is an opinion which is generally held by all and its
purpose is to highlightthe welfare of all .It is a consensus opinion which enjoy the
support of a very large majority of people.

Public opinion is always characterized by the following features:

I. General agreement:

PIt is an opinion behind which there is a general agreement or a consenus

II. Rational:

Public opinion is rational.It is logical.It validity can be demonstrated by logic or

reason.

III. General welfare:

Public opinion is always governed by the idea of promotion of general public welfare.

IV. Related to all aspect of life :

Public opinion can concern any and every matter-political,social,economic,or

cultural.

V. Upholds morality :

Public opinion always uphold the moral values of society.It is never against
morality.

VI. Not an imposed opinion:

Public opinon is not an imposed opinion .It is a generally held consenus opinion
and is the result of growth.

VII. Neither destructive nor negative :

 Public opinion is never destructive and negative .It is positive in content because
it always represents public welfare.

VIII. Based on right to freedom of speech and expression :

The right to freedom of speech and expression is the most essential condition for
the brith of public opinion.

Social movement

Sociologist Charles Tilly defines social movements as a series of contentious performances,

displays and campaigns by which ordinary people make collective claims on others.[8] For Tilly, social
movements are a major vehicle for ordinary people's participation in public politics. [13] He argues that
there are three major elements to a social movement:[8]

1. Campaigns: a sustained, organized public effort making collective claims of target

authorities;
2. Repertoire (repertoire of contention): employment of combinations from among the
following forms of political action: creation of special-purpose associations and
coalitions, public meetings, solemn processions, vigils, rallies, demonstrations,
petition drives, statements to and in public media, and pamphleteering; and
3. WUNC displays: participants' concerted public representation
of worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitments on the part of themselves and/or
their constituencies.
Characteristics:

1. Collective Action:
Social movement undoubtedly involves collective action. However, this collective action,
takes the form of a movement only when it is sustained for a long time. This collective
action need not be formally organised. It could be an informal attempt also. But it should
be able to create an interest and awakening in relatively large number of people.

2. Oriented towards Social Change:

A Social movement is generally oriented towards bringing about social change. This
change could either be partial or total. Though the movement is aimed at bringing about
a change in the values, norms, ideologies of the existing system, efforts are also made
by some other forces to resist the changes and to maintain the status quo.

Types of social movement

 Alternative movements are typically focused on self-improvement and limited,

specific changes to individual beliefs and behavior. These include things like
Alcoholics Anonymous, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and Planned
Parenthood.
 Redemptive movements (sometimes called religions movements) are “meaning
seeking,” are focused on a specific segment of the population, and their goal is to
provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals. Some sects fit in this
category.
 Reformative social movements seek to change something specific about the
social structure. They may seek a more limited change, but are targeted at the
entire population. Environmental movements, the women’s suffrage movement,
or the more contemporary “Buy Nothing Day”, which protests the rampant
consumerism of Black Friday, are examples of reformative movements.
 Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society—
their goal is to change all of society in a dramatic way. Examples include the Civil
Rights Movement or the political movements, such as a push for communism.

Theroies of social movement

Deprivation theory:

1.1.1. Deprivation Theory According to proponents of the deprivation theory, some social
movements are born when certain people or certain groups of people in a society
feel that they are deprived of a specific good, service, or resource (McAdam,
McCarthy, & Zald, 1988; Opp, 1988). Within the deprivation theory camp, there
were two branches: absolute deprivation and relative deprivation. The proponents
of absolute deprivation treated these grievances of the affected group in isolation
from that group's position in society. Proponents of relative deprivation, on the
other hand, regarded a group to be in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis some
other group in that society (McAdam, McCarthy, & Zald, 1988). The deprivation
theory, seemingly, provides a powerful reason as to why some social movements
may be born. However, it does have one major disadvantage that is difficult to
explain away. It fails to explain why in some cases deprivation fails to ignite the birth
of a social movement. This gives rise to the suspicion that while the existence of a
deprivation may be a necessary condition for the birth of a social movement, it may
not be a sufficient condition for the social movement to be born. In other words, for
 a social movement to be born, deprivation needs to be present along with other
factors (that the deprivation theory overlooks) in order for a social movement to be
born. In spite of the above difficulty, it seems that the deprivation theory may
provide a partial explanation as to why a social movement is born. For instance, one
can argue that the feminist movement was born in the 1960s because prior to that
time women were "deprived" by society of rights and opportunities (especially in
terms of a career) that were only accorded to men. In a similar manner, one can
argue that the civil rights movement in the U.S. was born because before that
movement non-white people were "deprived" of basic rights and privileges that
their white counterparts enjoyed. Again, we must keep in mind that in the two
above-mentioned situations, deprivation of basic rights and opportunities was one
of the causes as to why those two movements were born -- we have to also look for
other factors that acted in conjunction with deprivation to give birth to those two
movements. 1.1.2. Resource Mobilization Theory The resource mobilization theory
invokes the importance of the availability of suitable resources in the birth of a social
movement. This theory thus says that when some individuals in a society have
certain grievances, they may be able to mobilize necessary resources to do
something to alleviate those grievances. The term "resources" in this context refer
to things like money, labor, social status, knowledge, support of the media and
political elites, etc (Dobson, 2001; Foweraker, 1995; McAdam, McCarthy, & Zald,
1988; Phongpaichit, 1999) . One of the great advantages of this theory is that it
offers a convincing explanation as to why in some situations some grievances may
give birth to a successful social movement, whereas in other situations the same
types of grievances may not give birth to anything similar.
1.1.2. Political process theory :

Political process theory treats social movements as a type of political movement in that
the origins of a social movement are traced to the availability of political opportunities.
More precisely, this theory looks at the social movement in question to that of the state –
or the power of the government in charge. If the government’s position is strongly
entrenched and it also is prone to repressive behavior, then the chances are high that a
social movement might fail. If, on the other hand, the government is weak or more
tolerant of dissenting behaving, then the chances are high that any social movement that
is born might have the opportunity to grow and flourish (Dobson, 2001; Foweraker,
1995; Phongpaichit, 1999; Tilly, 1978). Few social movement theorists would have any
problems with the political process theory emphasizing the importance of political
conditions and attendant political opportunities (or lack thereof) in determining the
chances of success for a nascent social movement. The primary criticism of this theory is
that it focuses too much on political circumstances and ignores cultural factors that might
be strong enough to mitigate the effect of the political

Foweraker (1995) looks at several examples of social movements in Latin American

countries and how the power of the state (or government) has affected the outcomes of
those movements. One of the poignant examples is the case of Chile where pro-
democracy movements were brutally dealt with by the oppressive U.S.-backed
government of General Augusto Pinochet (who died very recently). Foweraker (1995)
contrasts the fortunes of the pro-democracy movement in Chile with that of the Green
(environmental) movement in many West European countries. Whereas in the Chile case,
the ruthlessness of the state crushed the pro-democracy movements repeatedly, in West
European countries the presence of friendly and cooperative national governments fuelled
the growth of the Green movement to what it is today. These two contrasting cases are
vivid examples of how the outcome of social movements is intimately tied to the nature
of the governments (or political systems) that these movements have to contend with.
1.1.4. Structural Strain Theory The structural strain theory was proposed by Smelser
(1965). The theory advocates that any nascent social movement needs six factors to grow.
These six factors are: people in a society experience some type of problem (deprivation);
recognition by people of that society that this problem exists; an ideology purporting to
be a solution for the problem develops and spreads its influence; an event or events
transpire that convert this nascent movement into a bona fide social movement; the
society (and its government) is open to change for the movement to be effective (if not,
then the movement might die out); and mobilization of resources takes place as the
movement develops further. The structural strain theory can be used to understand the
birth and growth of the U.S. civil rights movement. During the 1960s, there was
increasing recognition amongst both blacks and some whites in the country that the-then
current state of discriminatory racial affairs could not go on (especially in light of the fact
that at that very moment the U.S. was portraying itself in the Cold War as the global
champion of liberty and equality). Discontent, in the form of sporadic protests and
boycotts, was spreading slowly.