SOC 148 Chapter Notes -Collective Behavior, Emergence
Document Summary
The field of collective behavior not easy to define! Includes an enormous array of behaviors, processes, structures, and contexts. Not restricted to a given type of behavior or social process. No literal meaning since it includes any group behavior. The field of collective behavior can be seen as a residual category: what cannot be studied as a social structure/ from a perspective of established cultural definitions. Collective behavior is group behavior; not of the isolated individual; involves responding to each other/ the same stimulus. Cultural specificity = the culture offers guidelines (who and what social roles will be played; means, ends, procedures to decision-making; where interaction will occur and end) Ex: wedding in a church, lecture in a college classroom. Emergent behavior = groups aren"t bound by the culture of a formal organization and ambiguity surrounds arising issues. What roles, what members, goals, means to achieve goals, location of behavior. The study of collective behavior offers grounds for informed predictions.
