CHAPTER 17: SOCIAL CHANGE: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

• Collective behavior is the spontaneous and unstructured behavior of a large number of people who may violate traditional or conventional norms and values.– It is an act rather than a state of mind.– It varies in its degree of spontaneity and

structure.

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Structural Strain Theory

• Macro-level factors encourage or discourage collective behavior.– Structural conduciveness involves social

conditions that allow the behavior to occur.– Structural strain occurs when an important

aspect of a social system is seen as causing problems.

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Structural Strain Theory– Growth and spread of a generalized belief

occurs when people begin to see an event as a widespread problem.

– Precipitating factors include an incident or dramatic experience that triggers an event.

– Mobilizing people for action occurs when leaders emerge

– Social control happens when opposing groups try to prevent the action.

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Varieties of Collective Behavior

• Rumors, gossip, and urban legends—widespread beliefs– Rumor—unfounded information spread

among people in rapid fashion– Gossip—the act of spreading news about

other people's personal lives– Urban legends—stories that supposedly

happened to people

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Discussion

• Why do rumors, gossip, and urban legends exist?

• Why do they have the power they do?

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Varieties of Collective Behavior

• Panic and Mass Hysteria– Panic involves a collective flight from a real

or perceived danger in an irrational way.– Mass hysteria involves an intense, fearful,

and anxious reaction to a real or imagined threat

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Varieties of Collective Behavior• Fashions, Fads, and Crazes

– Fashion is a temporary standard of appearance, thinking, or behavior that enjoys widespread acceptance.

– Fads spread rapidly and enthusiastically but last for only a short time.

– Crazes become all-consuming passions for a short period of time.

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Application

• Is it fashion, fad, or craze?– For a few months, many people were trying

the South Beach diet.– One Christmas, most American children

desperately wanted a Cabbage Patch doll.– In recent years, many women have been

getting color highlights in their hair.

Varieties of Collective Behavior• Disasters are unplanned and unwanted

occurrences that cause widespread damage, destruction, distress, and loss.– Disasters can be due to social causes,

technological causes, or natural causes.– Disasters often inspire organization rather

than chaos.

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Discussion

Why does a particular event cause panic sometimes and organization other times?

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• Publics, Public Opinion, and Propaganda– A public is a collection of people who are

interested in a particular issue.– Public opinion involves a verbalization

about a matter of concern and involves controversial matter.

– Propaganda is the presentation of information designed to influence others.

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Varieties of Collective Behavior

• Crowds are temporary collections of people who are geographically together and share a common interest.– Crowds vary in their goals, motives,

interests, and emotions.

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Varieties of Collective Behavior

Varieties of Collective Behavior• A mob is a highly emotional and

disorderly crowd that uses force or violence against a specific target.

• A riot is a violent crowd that directs its hostility at a wide and shifting range of targets.

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Application

• Identify the type of collective behavior.– A group of people gathered to peacefully

protest the war in Iraq.– A group of people rampaged through a city

neighborhood smashing windows in many stores.

– People gathered in a designated shelter during a tornado.

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

• A social movement is a large group of people who are organized to promote or resist some social change in society.

• Social movements are organized, deliberate, and structured.

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Types of Social Movements

• Social movements are classified according to their goals and the amount of change that they seek.– Alternative—aimed at changing people's

attitudes and behaviors in a specific way; seek limited change among some people. Example: Alcoholics Anonymous

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– Redemptive—seek to create dramatic change in some peoples' lives. Example: a Christian fundamentalist group

– Reformative—seek to change everyone on a particular topic. Example: the Civil Rights Movement

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Types of Social Movements

– Resistance—reactionary movements that seek to block change. Example: anti-abortion movements

– Revolutionary—want to destroy a social order and replace it with a new one. Example: the French Revolution

Types of Social Movements

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Types of Social Movements

Application

• Identify the type of social movement.– A white supremacy group– A militia group that declares the existence of a

new nation– People involved in practicing yoga

Why Social Movements Emerge

• Mass Society Theory suggests that social movements offer a sense of belonging to people who feel alienated and disconnected from others.

• Relative Deprivation Theory argues that people react to what they think they have relative to others.

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Why Social Movements Emerge• Resource Mobilization Theory focuses on the

need for organization and leadership to advance a cause. Movements also need money and equipment.

• New Social Movements Theory emphasizes the linkages between culture, politics, and ideology. Recent movements have attracted relatively well-educated, affluent people who seek to promote the rights of all people.

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Application

• Identify the social movement theory.– Many well-known actors organize to end

world hunger.– A movement is successful when it is led by an

experienced former businessman.– People join social movements when they feel

they deserve better than they are getting.

The Stages of Social Movements

• Emergence—People are upset about some social condition and want to change it.

• Organization—Active members form alliances, seek media coverage, develop strategies, and tactics.

• Institutionalization—The movement becomes more organized and bureaucratic.

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• Decline—In the last stage movements may– become interest groups and part of society's

fabric– be co-opted by government or other groups– become distracted– experience fragmentation– be repressed

The Stages of Social Movements

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The Stages of Social Movements

Discussion• What makes a social movement successful?

TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE

• Technology is the scientific application of knowledge for practical purposes.

• Computer technology began in 1887 and has become more pervasive and sophisticated over the years. Robots have been developed that can perform human-like functions.

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Technology and Social Change

• Biotechnology is a broad term that applies to all practical uses of living organisms in the biological sciences.– Genetic engineering involves technologies that

can change the makeup of cells and move genes across species boundaries.

– Stem cell research involves self-regenerating cells found in embryos, umbilical cords, and parts of adult bodies.

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Discussion

• Why is biotechnology controversial?• Should there be limits on the use of

biotechnology?

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• Nanotechnology involves building objects and substances one atom or molecule at a time.

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Technology and Social Change

Benefits and Costs of Technology

• DNA testing is used in– detecting, apprehending, and prosecuting

criminals– providing people with information about

predispositions for diseases.

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Discussion

• What are the potential problems with the use of DNA testing?

• Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

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• Privacy issues result from the use of computer and communication technologies.– Computer information is not

always removed before the hardware is reused.

– Information is collected about people as they search the Internet.

– Insurance companies have accessed information about individuals' purchase of prescription drugs.

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Discussion

• Should we be concerned about the amount of information that is available about each individual?

• What can be done to protect privacy?

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• The digital divide refers to the division between the "haves" and "have-nots" in access to technology.– Seventy percent of Americans use the

Internet compared with 5% of Africans.– About 61% of lower-income American adults

use the Internet compared with 93% of higher income adults.

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Benefits and Costs of Technology

Some Ethical Issues

• Cultural lag describes the gap between material culture and nonmaterial culture. Technology changes before attitudes.– Information is available before the guidelines

regulating its use.– Biomedical technology is available before an

understanding about the effects on human life.

– Technology is most available to the wealthy.

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Some Ethical Issues

Discussion

• How can we ensure that technology is used responsibly?

• Is it possible to develop guidelines for the development of new technologies?

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Internet Connections: Quick Links• The Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages archive is an expansive source of data that includes history

and debunking of, and information on hundreds of urban myths ranging from autos to weddings: http://www.snopes.com

• Remembering the Flint Sit-Down Strike, 1936-1937 is an online multimedia exhibit that examines one of the most celebrated events in the history of the American labor movement. The audio timeline, brief essays, and slideshow provide an excellent description of topics such as the preexisting conditions in the General Motors plants, the organization of the strikes, the discriminatory wage system, union demands, and the aftermath of the events: http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint

• WholeHealthMD.com is a good example of a contemporary healthy-living movement in the United States that continues to grow. The site is "dedicated to providing the best in complementary and alternative medicine" that has been reviewed and developed by board-certified doctors. The Healing Center and the Healing Kitchen sections are particularly enlightening: http://www.wholehealthmd.com

• The Evolution of the American Conservation Movement explores the emergence and development of conservationism between 1850 and 1920. This excellent archive contains 62 books and pamphlets, 140 Federal statutes and Congressional resolutions, various Presidential proclamations, 170 prints and photographs, and 2 motion pictures: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/conshome.html

• To find out more about propaganda, take a look at Propagandacritic.com. This site reviews several propaganda strategies—such as name calling, euphemisms, and appeals to “plain folks”—and showcases examples of historical wartime propaganda, as well as contemporary examples from organizations such as the John Birch Society and the Democratic National Committee: http://www.propagandacritic.com

• Unbeknownst to many, the American suffragist movement began hundreds of years before U.S. women finally won full voting privileges in 1920. A History of the American Suffragist Movement offers an informative timeline of women’s and African Americans’ struggles for this basic democratic right: http://suffragist.com/timeline.htm