POLS 4900 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Ferguson Unrest, Collective Behavior
5 May 2018
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By managing good relationships with people of the crowd, this could potentially lead to
other members of the crowd being civil as well. The Social Identify Model of Collective
Resilience (SIMCR) states that people in a crowd share social identities that promotes collective
behavior which leads people to mirror the emotions and feelings of the crowd (Cocking, 2013,
p.231). In another study researching the mentality of the crowd, the results show that about 85
percent of the participants in the study reported an increased sense of identity with the other
members of the crowd (Cocking, 2013, p. 226). Keeping good relations with members of the
crowd can potentially lead to an overall good atmosphere within the demonstration which
benefits everyone.
Another way to manage major demonstrations in an effective way would be to integrate
the police into social media. With many demonstrations happening such as the Ferguson unrest,
the media has put the police department on the spotlight with criticisms (El-Elany, 2015, p. 4).
However, by integrating social media with the police can effectively use social media to their
advantage. With social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook, there would be a way for police
to send messages and communicate with the demonstrators and the public about the situation
live. Demonstrators could also send messages to the police, which would help the officers to
determine the general mood of the crowd. This could help the police department by knowing
when force is necessary and when it looks like an outburst is about to occur. Also, by ensuring a
flow of information to the demonstrators and the public about the event helps promote police
integrity and professionalism which minimizes the risk of a riot (Rens, 2016, p.843). By
explaining the role of the police to the crowd and their expectations of the citizens also shows the
demonstrators and the public that the police are there to protect their First Amendment Rights
and avoids misunderstandings. Providing a live information stream to the protestors could also
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Document Summary
By managing good relationships with people of the crowd, this could potentially lead to other members of the crowd being civil as well. Resilience (simcr) states that people in a crowd share social identities that promotes collective behavior which leads people to mirror the emotions and feelings of the crowd (cocking, 2013, p. 231). In another study researching the mentality of the crowd, the results show that about 85 percent of the participants in the study reported an increased sense of identity with the other members of the crowd (cocking, 2013, p. 226). Keeping good relations with members of the crowd can potentially lead to an overall good atmosphere within the demonstration which benefits everyone. Another way to manage major demonstrations in an effective way would be to integrate the police into social media. With many demonstrations happening such as the ferguson unrest, the media has put the police department on the spotlight with criticisms (el-elany, 2015, p. 4).
