Crowd Control

By: Justin Sharpley

                

 Group behavior and obedience is a two edged sword. Behaving a certain way based on the group we are a part of is something we are all failure with but sometimes the role changes based on the desired outcome of that group interaction/involvement.  One example is when there is an altercation on a playground involving adolescents. Inevitably, the two children having an argument will be surrounded by the other children witnessing the argument. After shouting words of encouragement, more often than not a chant of “fight! fight!” will begin. The children involved in the argument will then take the cue from the crowd and start throwing punches. This is of course an example of negative group behavior. 

                An example of positive group behavior could be at a standing room concert. You have a large group of people all enjoying the same show, singing the same songs, and all acting similar to one another. People are standing shoulder to shoulder, with everyone trying to get as close as they can to the stage in front of them, sometimes a part of the crowd will even start another behavior that may seem aggressive and start shoving one another and generally running into one another. This is of course aggressive behavior but it is rarely done in an angry way, evidence of this can be found when a person falls down in such a situation. People stop doing what they are doing, make space for the fallen person to get back up, and then continue to enjoy the show. This is of course dependent on the artist performing the show as well. The crowd will respond to the performer in a very unique way. The performer will control the crowd essentially taking a large group of strangers, bringing them together to the same mind space and then using that to control the crows and put on a show.

                These are both examples of group behavior in which different situations and circumstances control the behavior. Group behavior is something as small as how we act in an elevator, to something as large as how we act when in a group of our peers. Group behavior and the obedience of the group is something that has always been around and is a very strange thing. The idea of taking people of different backgrounds and unifying them is something we have all experienced, and positive or negative, it can be a very powerful thing.

Group Behavior

Submitted by Elena Lazarova

              People interact in small or large groups and the group they choose to participate in influences their behavior.  We could be a part of a school group, an organizational group, a peers group and etc.  Moreover, children are highly influenced by the groups they are involved in, and let that structure controls their social word.

              A great example of a group school behavior is the comparison between early adolescence and middle childhood behavior.  A research shows that fourth, sixth and eight graders were combined either with a close friend or with a classmate whom they neither strongly liked, nor strongly dislike. The pairs of children were observed while they were doing two assignments that provided them with the vision for kind and helpful behavior among each other.  On one of the challenges, children distributed presents to themselves and to their partner. On the second task, children were allowed to help their partner get his/her present, when the partner was placed on a disadvantage. In the end the results showed an increase in age with differences between friends’ and classmates’ behavior. Eight graders were more helpful and more generous towards friends then towards other classmates. On the other hand, fourth and sixth graders threated their friends and classmates equally. This research shows that group behavior changes within ages.   

            

               Another example of group behavior is the organizational behavior that explains how people, individuals and groups acts in organizations. Its purpose is to build better connections by accomplishing human, organizational and social goals.

 The workers see that, as this is a characteristic of work life, which leads their level of motivation.  A good example of group behavior among work environment is illustrated among the corporate environment. Employees have their cliques; just like in high school teenagers have their cliques. Moreover, there is a tendency to obey an authority figure. Employees are divided hierarchical and they act differently when they are within their level circle and when they are outside of it. Also, every individual in the group can be influenced by the direction of an authority figure.

               Group behavior changes within the age and the different group participation. Almost every person once in his/her life has been a part of a group. It could be a small or a large one. It could be a different kind of a social group. But this group will illustrate a point of view, influenced by our own opinion, the opinion of others participants, or an authority figure.

"Because I Said So"

If someone asks you to jump off a bridge just because everyone else is doing, will you follow everyon else and jump?  You would be surprised by the answer that people would give you if they were actually put in that situation.  There are a lot of different situations people are put in everyday that involve group behavior and obedience just so that person will fit in with someone.  If you ask a person if they have ever done something they were told just because other people were doing the same thing and they tell you no, then you know that person is lying.

It starts out from an early age that people start to try and find groups to fit in with.  in gradeschool on the playground, theres a group of kids playing football and they only want to play because all the other boys are playing and he doesnt want to feel left out, and that child doesn't even like sports.  another example in the early years would be if you have a crush on a girl and she likes something that sounds completly stupid, but you lie to her and say you like it anyway.  it happens to all of us no matter how old we are, we do it just to feel welcomed in a group. 

Another thing that people tend to do is listen to authority, no matter what they tell you to do!  say you get pulled over by a police officer and he tells you to step out of the car, as you get out he tells you to do 20 jumping jacks.  Do you do them to avoid a ticket?  Odds are that you would just because he has power over you and you "have" to do what he says.  No matter what the circumstance is, if an authority figure tells you to do something, no matter how idiotic it sounds, you will still do it.  People are affraid to disobey autority maybe because we could lose or jobs, or get in trouble with the law,  but there are sometimes where there are situations where the higher figure makes us do something that doesn't even need to be done, but we stiull do it cause we are brought up that way to always listen to whose in charge.

This image shows a higher authority figure say "Because I Said So".  This shows us that no matter what we are told to do, and we may ask the authority why they want us to do such a thing, they can simply reply back and say because I said so and we would still do it no matter what we are asked to do.

-Ryan Salayda

Flash Mobs Gone Wrong

Submitted by: Khrystal Rodriguez

What comes to mind when you think of flash mobs? Is it something positive or negative? Currently, Philadelphia is plagued with flash mobs. Flash mobs have gone through a drastic change. According to Wikipedia the term "Flash mob" means a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purpose of entertainment, satire, artistic expression or-in rare cases-violence. In Philadelphia's case violence is not rare. All of the accounts have been violent.

This is what flash mobs use to be:

This is what flashes mobs have become:

The question comes to mind why on earth are these kids doing this? I have yet to find an answer but, you can consider some factors. As I read articles and viewed videos surrounding this topic certain ideas kept surfacing. There is an idea that places parents at fault. Another, was this idea of searching for an identity. One generally tends to wonder are these individuals trying to make a point when they organize these violent flash mobs. From the material I viewed these individuals seem to not care about police authority. Mayor Nutter's response was to set a curfew. However, teenagers are still hitting the streets,no pun intended, past nine. Thus, arrest are continuing to be made and who knows maybe another flash mob is being organized as I write this blog.

To comment on the last two videos it was interesting to hear some citizens views. Basically, it expressed some ideas on how these flash mobs can be controlled. In the first to the last video a citizen by the name of Siles Smith talked about the identity factor mentioned above. He stated "They are lost" "looking for something to relate to". Which is interesting because when someone belongs to a specific group that is what they identify with. So is a group dishing out violence giving these individuals a sense of identity? Is this what they are relating to? Dr. Charles Williams' comments surrounded the idea of the parents being at fault. He states "Flash mobs will stop only when parents step up". He claims kids without structure, supervision, and activity filled schedules will act a fool and that is the fault of the parents. So what exactly can parents do if their kids are at a disobedient stage? In the last video some one commented warning parents to keep and eye on their kids.

To conclude, the term flash mob has certainly changed in meaning to the citizens of Philadelphia. This topic leaves one only with more questions. What could be the cause of these violent acts? Is it the parents fault? or are these individuals finding their identity in the wrong place. Whatever the reason I sure hope our authority figures can fix this soon so that kids can stay out of trouble and so that the term "Flash mob" can transform back into something fun as the third to the last video puts it.