NCJ Number
15096
Journal
American Sociological Review Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: (JUNE 1974) Pages: 355-373
Date Published
1974
Length
19 pages
Annotation
USING AN INSTANCE OF CROWD BEHAVIOR AND SEVERAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES, AN APPROACH TO CROWD BEHAVIOR IS PROPOSED IN WHICH PARTICIPANTS EXERCISE COGNITIVE SKILL WHILE TRYING TO PRODUCE REWARDING ACTIONS.
Abstract
THE AUTHOR GIVES CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION TO THEORIES OF CROWD BEHAVIOR WHICH IN GENERAL CHARACTERIZE THE PARTICIPANTS AS IRRATIONAL CREATURES OF PASSION ACTING ON IMPULSE. DECISION THEORY, A PRESCRIPTIVE STRATEGY FOR MAXIMIZING ONE'S REWARDS AND/OR MINIMIZING ONE'S COSTS, IS THEN DISCUSSED. THE DATA FOR THIS STUDY WAS GATHERED FROM AN ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY IN WHICH THE DISSATISFIED PARTICIPANTS MARCHED TO A NEARBY THOROUGHFARE AND BLOCKED TRAFFIC. THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE DECISIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS TO BE A PART OF THE BLOCKADE. THROUGH PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION TECHNIQUES, INTERVIEWS WITH PARTICIPANTS, A REPORT PREPARED BY THE CAMPUS POLICE, AND PRESS ACCOUNTS DATA WERE COLLECTED FOR THE STUDY. THE AUTHOR CONCLUDES THAT RATIONAL DECISION-MAKING WAS USED IN THIS SITUATION. CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION IS THEN DEVOTED TO THE APPLICATION OF DECISION THEORY TO THIS INSTANCE OF CROWD BEHAVIOR.