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.

"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

The Whole World is Watching

Submitted by: Jackie Butorsky

     When one thinks about what Utopia is, what kind of images appear? A place where there is equality amongst humanity; an unachievable piece of Heaven. When I sat down to write this piece, my strong feelings about the subject overwhelmed me. On one hand, we have people who are obedient to authority. They blindly follow, without question. The term "sheep" comes to mind. Then, there are those like me, who question authority and their actions. I (and those like me) tend to view authority as an evil force, with evil intentions.



     Respecting rational and reasonable laws is one thing. If a country did not have law and justice, we'd eventually become like cave men. But, to blindly follow those with more authority than you, to never question, to never ask "Why?" is insanity in my opinion. Take for example the women who fought hard to have equal rights as men and Black Americans who fought to have equal rights as Whites. They had the balls to ask "Why is it that I do not have the same rights as my fellow men?" They dared to get arrested, dared to question authority, and dared to challenge. If they blindly obeyed authority and the status quo, god forbid where they might be today.
     My point is this... I would love it if police and politicins respected the law and didn't abuse it; teaching people that they are indeed allowed to question and to never back down when not answered; to have equality amongst everyone. Perhaps my way of thinking can be compared to communism. Every one has an equal share, no one is richer or poorer than the next person. Share and share alike. But communism is great in theory, never in practice. My little piece of Utopia is where everyone never has the desire to make others submit to them just because they hold a badge and a gun.



     In conclusion my dear readers, respecting the law and respecting humankind is okay with me. Submission to authority without question is entirely different. It may be because they do not wish to be confrontational, or simply they don't know any better. The point is, things will never change if we continue following the status quo. The fat cats will get fatter, as the poor get poorer. It's about damn time "we the people" rise up.

Power In Numbers/Questioning "Authority"

Submited By: T. Widmaier

     Recently, our city has come under attack by teens who perfectly display the negative side of group behavior. "Flash mobs" are popping up all over Philly. Groups of teens find anonymity in large numbers, and are encouraged by each others approval. Individually, the members of these groups are relatively harmless. When they get together, however, they are motivated by the idea of fitting in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4WOYMWp29g&feature=player_detailpage

     The above link is a news broadcast showing hundreds of teens flooding the street with no purpose other then to cause chaos. In this case the authority figure is not a single person; The authority is the majority. I believe the more people you have on your side the more people will be willing to join in on your "cause". Perhaps some are even afraid to not take part. The news story mentions the use use of social media to communicate information. People may feel that they need to go along with their group of friends in order to remain in that group. The fact that their are hundreds of young adults taking part in these flash mobs may also indicate the  desire to rebel against city police and officials.

    No real reason has ever been given for the attacks. It is easy to assume that the participating teens are just bad people, but sociology teaches us that their must be enviormental causes or else the numbers wouldn't be so large.  The news click mentions the cities apparent desire to sweep the issue under the rug as it is bad for tourism, but this time last year i recall us dealing with the same issue. While the initial reaction will obviously be to punish those who are doing harm, perhaps we should be spending more time trying to figure out why its happening.