Sociology 101 Final Exam Study Guide
3 Stage Life Cycle of Crowds
Assembling phase Gatherings - at least two persons in a common location in space and time without regard to their actions or motives Dispersing process
Moral Panics reading
"moral panics," the agents responsible for the threat—"folk devils"—are stereotyped and classified as deviants grassroots, elite-engineered, and interest group theories. Moral panics are unlike fads; though both tend to be relatively short-lived, moral panics always leave an informal, and often an institutional, legacy
4 key points on framing
(1) Facts take on their meaning by being embedded in frames, which render them relevant and trivial. (2) People carry around multiple frames in their heads. We have more than one way of framing an issue or event (3) Successful reframing involves the ability to enter into the worldview of our adversaries (4) All frames contain implicit or explicit appeals to moral principles.
Terrorism
A person or group of persons that use violence or the threat of violence against persons or property based on a religious, political, or social agenda
Rumors Defined
A proposition for belief that is not backed by secure standards of evidence Particularly liable to spread when the topic is judged to be 1) important and 2) the situation is ambiguous
Conditions for Fashion to exist
Ability to make choices (have a selection) Fashion is not the subject of social control It must be economically possible
Mass Hysteria and Collective Delusions
All mass hysterias are collective delusions as they involve false or exaggerated beliefs, but only rarely do collective delusions involve mass hysteria as to do so, they must report illness symptoms.
Organization
All social movements must have some level of organization. Organization is required in both the movement's bureaucratic structure (i.e., leaders, organizational configuration, etc.) and its action orientation ( i.e., methods and rules of protest, fundraising enterprise, media strategy, etc.).
Class Distinction Theory
Also known as the trickle down theory Simmel - Two opposing forces, Unity and Difference Unity (inclusion or belonging) Difference (exclusion or individuality) The upper-class drives the fashion cycle by distinguishing themselves from everyone else Falling out of fashion and the opposing forces
Moral Panic defined
An analytic concept that refers to a distinctive type of social deviance characterized by a heightened sense of threat in some segment of the population, sudden in emergence and subsidence, attribution of the troubled condition to a "folk devil," and a disproportionate response relative to an objectively assessed threat level Concept often used to show the socially constructed nature of deviance through the interaction of claims makers, folk devils, and audiences
Social Movements
An organized activity that encourages or discourages social change Classified by who is trying to be changed and how radical the change
History of terrorism
Ancient - Thugs and Assassins Late 1800's - Anarchists, propaganda by deed, dynamite and guns 1970's/1980's - The communist wave 2000's - Religious terrorism Groups exist in between these eras and for different motivations
Types of Mass Hysteria
Anxiety hysteria of shorter duration, usually lasting a day, and is triggered by the sudden perception of a threatening agent, most commonly a strange odor Motor hysteria Motor hysteria appears gradually over time and usually takes weeks or months to subside
Resource mobilization theory
Any social movement rises or falls on its ability to attract resources, mobilize people, and forge alliances
Innovation
Both refer to change, and they replace or complement something that already exists—an older way of dressing or an obsolete technology—with something new. Compared with fashion, ________ alters social practices in a deeper way and has longer-lasting effects. Change in fashion does not necessarily imply improvement, whereas it does for _________, independent of tastes or preferences
Reefer Madness
Child safety, crime and drugs are the most frequent topics The criminalization of marijuana
5 characteristics of social movements
Collective Action An Orientation Toward Change A Degree of Organization A Degree of Temporal Continuity Non-Institutional Action (i.e., Protesting in the streets) and/or Institutional Action (Voting, Lobbying, etc.)
Characteristics of Collective Behavior
Collective behavior is emergent. it is multi-dimensional each dimension can be conceived on a continuum moving from a maximum degree of cultural specification to a maximum degree of emergence (rather than a mere presence or absence).
Old norms and old relationships lead to what behavior
Conventional Behavior
A Social-Psychological Theory
Derived directly from the Thomas theorem "The process of communication follows the same principles as the transmission of all rumors"
New Norms and New relationships lead to what behavior
Disasters -Mass Hysteria and Delusion -Some Crowds
Victory Celebrations reading
Drawing on data derived from a field study of victory celebrations, this paper suggests a dramaturgical approach to crowd behavior. emphasizes the spatial and temporal as well as interactional dimensions of the conception of crowd behavior
Routine Dispersal
EX> 120 students evacuating a classroom in under a minute without planning
Emergency Dispersal
EX> Computer explodes, class ends Research has shown that people tend to act altruistically as opposed to egoistically when faced with a disaster Less Rose from Titanic, more typical disaster movie hero
Coerced Dispersal
EX> National guards assist in removing students from the classroom
Michelle Remembers and Remembering Satan
Early 90's: Freud, hypnosis, and satanic ritual abuse sweeps the nation
3 Theories on Moral Panics
Elite - Engineered panics: Muggings in London and public distractions from recession Grass roots: 9/11 and hate crimes Interest groups: Autism and vaccinations Video game violence
Emergent Cultural Spectrum
Examples of the dimensions of collective behavior include whether or not culture specifies several specific things
Fads: Streaking! - Conclusions
Fads as heterogeneous - a diverse set of ways to run naked Are fads meaningless? - Evidence suggested streaking was meaningful and consequential to participants Streaking is one behavior from a pool of potentially faddish behaviors; - It is not new, but recently legitimized by being picked up by the mainstream culture Streaking as a source of cohesion, protest and status Streaking often involved planning and coordination and required the support of existing organizations (frats, etc.) More sanctions → campus was more likely to adopt streaking, but negative student reactions to streaking decreased the chance streaking would occur
Dramaturgical Approach to Crowds
Focus is placed on the social interactions Three primary groups - Performers, spectators, and social control agents
What is the difference between gossip and rumor?
Gossip is a form of rumor for which the topic is an interpersonal social group
4 stakeholders of social movements
Government/Corporate Authorities Movement Activists Movement Opponents General Public
Characteristics of Moral Panics
Heightened concern An increased degree of hostility toward the group A consensus Disproportionality Volatility
New norms and old relationships lead to what behavior
Hospitals responding to disasters -Riots and Police -Fads and Fashions
Types of Collective Delusions
Immediate community threats Community flight panics Symbolic community scares Mass wish-fulfillment
Consequences of Rumors
In one African country rumors have hindered the spread of preventative reproductive care Rumors about others virtually always precede times of riots and violence Often discuss how the "others" (or evil elites) are attacking them, reinforce or fuel prejudices
What is included in fashion and what is not?
Inc: Art, clothes, food, language, medicine, management practices, scientific topics It can potentially expand to any field of human activity Consider: diets, holistic remedies, scientific concepts/ideas N/A: Innovations
Characteristics of people who join crowds
Individual attributes do not influence who will participate People gather based on Solicitations from friends/family/acquaintances Availability Means to access Most people go to gatherings with prior contacts
Folk Devils
Individuals or groups who personify evil by engaging in harmful behavior that must be halted
3 parts of a frame
Injustice Component Agency Component Identity Component
Disproportionality
Key dimension of moral panics Social problems: objectivism vs. constructivism Facilitated by false stories being repeated as true and unconfirmed rumors being taken as fresh evidence
Old norms and new relationships lead to what behavior
Lynchings Coups d'etat Looting groups in civil disturbances
Central Actors in Moral Panics
Media public law enforcement political officials action groups
Key Resources for Social Movements:
Money, Money, -And More Money) Organizational/Management Resources (Both People & Money) Media Strategies / Ideological Framing Strategies Leadership (Every movement needs a good leader -or a few "good leaders.") Willing Participants / "True Believers"
Dimensions of Moral Panics
Morality vs Interests (motive) Elitism vs Grassroots (main actor in creating the panic)
What is the profile of a terrorist?
No actual profile; Overall it depends on the group
Distinguishing mass hysteria from epidemics
No plausible organic basis Symptoms that are transient and benign Occurrence in a segregated group Presence of extraordinary stress Rapid onset and recovery; symptoms spread by sight or sound Dispersion down the age scale, beginning in older or high-status persons
Collective violence explained.
Often occurs where law is weak, lacking, or openly partisan Which form emerges depends on: The degree of social polarization The continuity of the deviant behavior at which the violence is directed
Crowded Observations from Demonstrations
Planting advocates in an audience can significantly affect its reaction Larger crowds → Greater influence on individual behaviors? People act within crowds together Home crowd advantage The larger the crowd, the more complicated the behavior, the more coordination and pre-planning necessary for more complicated behaviors
Social movement examples
Portion of the population and Minor/limited change Alternative - Green movements Entire population and minor/limited changes "Reformative - Healthcare" Portion of the population and radical changes "Redemptive - AA" Entire population and radical changes Revolutionary - Socialist/ communist - Democratic revolutions
Prisoner's and Chicken dilemmas
Prisoners: option to testify against one another either remain silent or rat out other prisoner Chicken: drive cars at each other whoever swerves first loses
Consumption
Purchase and use of services of goods Key factor in identity Wearing labcoats makes us more careful and attentive Gender differences have a major impact on fashion, and in turn, fashion is a forceful purveyor of cultural norms and symbols that can shape and express gender differences ethnicity and dress have to deal with space and time, in the sense that ethnic dress varies not only with the location of its wearers
Harold Camping and the 2011 End of Times
Radio host predicted the Rapture would occur on May 21, 2011
Collective Delusions
Rapid, spontaneous, temporary spread of false beliefs within a particular population not referring to psychological disturbance but the socially constructed nature of the episode All involve a rapid spread of false but plausible beliefs that gain credibility within a particular social and cultural context Rumors are the essential ingredient common to all collective delusions
The Importance of Rumors
Research has been diffused across disciplines The transmission of unsecured information is the basis for many of the other forms of collective behavior Rumor is one of the most important contributing factors to violence, prejudice, and discrimination
Types of Dispersal
Routine Coerced Emergency
Plausibility and the Spread of Rumors
Rumors spread because they sound true A social constructionist approach Based on the realism of the rumor to the communicator and audience Rumors as collective problem solving Understanding ambiguous situations
Major technological or innovative advancements developed out of warfare
SPAM Human rights and WWII Nuclear bombs → Nuclear power The Cold War, the space race, and assorted technologies
Deprivation/strain theory
Social movements develop out of deprivation; the lack of opportunities, unsafe working conditions, rights, etc
Temporal Continuity
Social movements have to "stick around" for some time if they hope to be successful.
Non-Institutional and institutional actions
Social movements use a combination of non-institutional forms such as street protests and marches, letter writing campaigns, and civil disobedience (sit-ins, smoke-ins, kiss-ins, etc.) as well as institutional forms (lobbying, voting, creation of political interest groups, etc.).
Conditions of hysterias
Social stress/problems Limited power to change circumstance
Social Networks
Studies the structure of relationships between people Used for studying the spread of diseases as well as information, among other things Gatekeepers and the media
Medieval Dancing Mania - Hysteria?
Tarantism/madness People would randomly dance, scream, strip naked, become violent, etc. Historically the "chaos" was a structured ritual and connected to ceremonies and celebrations
How does individual rationality lead to collective irrationality?
The "wars" are difficult to stop as neither side is willing to trust their opponents' nominal commitment to disarm EX> prisoner and chicken dilemmas, you don't want to be the one who doesn't testify or who swerves and loses
Claims Making
The process of trying to convince the public and public officials of the importance of joining a social movement to address a particular issue
Mass Hysteria
The rapid spread of conversion hysteria and anxiety states within a social network or community who are exposed to a common threat, real or imagined
Injustice Component
The recognition of a problem that leads to a sense of moral indignation or outrage, both at the problem itself and those who are believed to be responsible for the condition
Identity Component
The recognition that "Our values and worldviews on this problem/condition makes us different." Accepting an "action frame" on the issue confirms one's identity within -and support of- the movement, its goals and its protest tactics
Agency component
The recognition that something needs to be done about this injustice/condition: "We can/must do something about this profound injustice!
Lessons from Victory Celebrations (Snow, Zurcher, and Peters 1981)
There is seldom if ever a single behavior associated with crowds Spontaneous, but roles and norms often form through the interactions between spectators and performers. Crowd behavior is affected by social control
Psychological Motivations to spread rumors
They allow people to cope with uncertain and threatening circumstances Allow people to build relationships with others in their group Help individuals and groups feel good about themselves
Hysteria reading
This article presents a social-psychological theory to explain collective behavior involving unusual somatic reactions. In conclusion, the article suggests a program for research and ways of managing collective anxiety attacks.
Razor blades in apples reading
This paper examines the widespread belief that anonymous sadists give children dangerous treats on Halloween Urban legends, like collective behavior and social problems construction, are responses to social strain, shaped by the perception of the threat and social organization
2 Main Strategies of terrorism
To make an undesired behavior too costly to continue: Colonialism 9/11 and the war on terror To serve as the vanguard; incite a major event: Burning the world Provoke the revolution
Conversion disorder
a disorder in which psychological conflict is converted to into involuntary physical symptoms without a corresponding physical basis
Frame
an ideological device that is used to garner -and expand- support from potential constituents and current stakeholders also called a media talking point
Fashion
an unplanned process of recurrent change against a backdrop of order in the public realm ___________ emerges from a process of mutual adaptation and thus links micro decisions to macro processes, Areas that constantly change, but not as the result of any intentional planning Clothing, hair styles, entertainment, music, etc.
Organizational theory
bureaucracies tend to seek more problems under their scope to increase their power
Emergent Norm Theory
crowd behavior is guided by unique social norms, which are established by members of the crowd
Collective violence
defines and responds to conduct as deviant Sometimes referred to as "popular justice"
Key dimension of moral panics
disproportionality
The pursuit of social change
either preventing it or promoting it- is the sine qua non of all social movements.
Collective action
implies that social movements are social in nature need a society to band with
Objective social problem
income inequality
Collective violence: Low org., individual liability
lynching
4 types of collective violence
lynching, rioting, vigilantism, and terrorism
Socially Constructed social problem
moral decay, collective delusions, moral panics
How social movements can contend with the free rider problem
offer "tangible" incentives for participation "solidarity incentives" (conscience collective), and "purposive incentives" (sense of accomplishment one gets from contributing to the common good)
Collective and conventional behavior can be connected by what 2 dimensions?
relationships and norms
Collective violence: low org., collective liability
rioting
Collective behavior
social processes and events which do not reflect existing social structure (laws, conventions, and institutions), but which emerge in a "spontaneous" way
The Free Rider Dilemma
someone who enjoys the benefits of a social good without contributing to the efforts that led to that social good
Fads (or Crazes)
sudden changes that often spread quickly and fade away rapidly. Differ from fashion in that they seem to be random impossible to predict where fashion based in its past and other social context and are not limited in their diffusion since they are not used to distinguish themselves in the way fashion is Diets, pet rocks, the 90's, portlandia's first skit
Collective violence: high org., collective liability
terrorism
How do terrorists differ from other criminals?
the altruistic offender AKA: a selfless warrior, not a criminal
Tversky and Kahneman's "prospect theory" experiments
the apparent inconsistency in choices between the two options is the "framing effect The first scenario presents a frame that emphasizes lives saved, whereas the second scenario presents a frame that emphasizes lives lost.
Why is it important to understand the history of terrorist groups?
to know what they like, don't like where and what they do to get their point across Groups exist in between eras of terrorism and for different motivations
Ideological Frames
ultimately reflects the worldview(s) of the person or group that is employing it
Collective violence: high org., individual liability
vigilantism