Page 622 - Sociology and You

592 Unit 5 Social Change
Figure 17.3 Major Forms of Collective Behavior
Behavior
Urban legend
Fashion
Mob
Social movement
Definition
A moralistic tale which focuses on current concerns and fears of the city or suburban dweller
A widely accepted behavior pattern that changes periodically
An emotional crowd ready to use violence for a specific purpose
Movement whose goal is to promote or prevent social change
Example
Fierce alligators in New York City’s sewer system
Nike shoes
Lynch mob
Civil Rights movement
Rumor A widely circulating piece of information that is not verified
as being true or false
Continuously repeated prediction that airplanes would crash on a massive scale on January 1, 2000
Fad An unusual behavior pattern Body piercing that spreads rapidly and
disappears quickly (although it may reappear)
Crowd A temporary collection of New Year’s celebrants at Times Square in people who share an immediate New York City
interest
Riot An episode of largely random destruction and violence carried
out by a crowd
Destructive behavior following the acquittal of police officers who were filmed using extreme force against Rodney King
revolutionary movement
a social movement that attempts to change the total structure of society
Primary Types of Social Movements
Despite commonalities, various social movements have unique character- istics. It is difficult to compare the civil rights movement with the environ- mental movement. This has led sociologists to study differences between social movements. David Aberle (1991) has identified four basic types of so- cial movements.
❖ A revolutionary movement attempts to change a society totally. The American Revolution was one of the most successful revolutionary movements in history. Another example is the revolutionary movement