Mass Behaviour

HSP3M

Urban Legends

• To help put out a forest-fire helicopters sometimes scoop large containers of water out of lakes and oceans to dump on the blazes. During one such occasion a man enjoying a bit of scuba-diving was accidently scooped up and dropped into the burning trees.

Urban Legends

• A woman decided at the last minute to get a quick tan for a special occasion. When she found out about the limits the salons set on their tanning beds, she signed up at several different tanning salons. A few days later, her husband told her she "smelled funny". She showered and showered but the smell wouldn't go away.

• When she finally went to the doctor he ran some tests and told her: "I'm sorry, it seems you've microwaved your internal organs, there's nothing we can do for you."

Urban Legends

• A man met a beautiful woman in a singles bar one night and took her home. During the evening she told him that she had been raped a few years ago, but was overcoming her resentment and fear, and was finally able to enjoy sex again. The next morning he awoke to find her already gone, on the bathroom mirror she'd written a message in lipstick. "Welcome to the AIDS club."

Urban Legends

• A young girl was babysitting some children in a large old house, the children were in bed and she was watching TV when the phone rang. All the voice on the other end did was laugh, she listened for a minute then hung up. A few minutes later the phone rang again and a scratchy, male voice said "have you checked no the children yet?" She asked who he was, but he just laughed and hung up. She was very scared and called the police. They told her there was really nothing they could do about prank calls, but they'd trace the call if it happened again.

• After she got another call asking her if she'd checked on the children, she hung up and the police called her and told her to get out of the house immediately. The calls were coming from the upstairs extension, where he'd already murdered the children.

Urban Legends

• During a wedding reception of a young couple the guests decided on a drunken game of hide and seek. It was decided that the groom was "it" and he eventually found everyone but his new bride. Eventually the man became furious and decided it wasn't funny anymore and left her there. As weeks went by he accepted that she'd had second thoughts and went on with her life so he did the same.

• A few years later a cleaning lady dusted off an old trunk in the attic of the building where the reception had taken place, out of curiosity she opened it. Inside the trunk was the rotted body of the missing bride who'd apparently became locked in the trunk she'd hid in. Whether she'd suffocated or starved was unknown, but her face was frozen in a scream.

Urban Legends

• A young woman was at the beach one day and she thought she felt a bug in her ear, she couldn't find anything, so forgot about it. A few days later she went to see a doctor because of a severe ear ache, he checked her out and decided she must have an earwig- a small bug deep in her inner ear. He said it was too deep to remove, she'd have to wait for it to come out the other side. A few weeks later she found a nasty looking bug on her pillow, put it in a jar and took it to the doctor to see if that was it. He said it was, but the bad news is it was a female and it had laid eggs.

Urban Legends

• A rich old woman was visiting Mexico when a small ugly dog approached her on the sidewalk. She couldn't resist his sad eyes, so she took him back to her hotel and fed and bathed him. For the remainder of the trip the lady and her dog were inseparable. When the time came to return home, she smuggled the small dog over the border so she could keep him.

• Within a few days he got sick and she immediately rushed him to the vet, but there was nothing that could be done, he died in the office. After she stopped crying, the grief-stricken woman asked the vet what kind of dog he had been. The shocked vet looked at her and said: "Lady, that's no dog, it's a Mexican Sewer Rat!"

Urban Legends

• A woman visiting Mexico bought a small cactus as a souvenir and smuggled it across the border when she went home. A few days later she was admiring her cactus when she could have sworn it wiggled a little, she dismissed it as a trick of the light until it began to vibrate. Finally she began to worry and called customs to confess her crime and see what she should do about the wiggling plant, in a panicked voice the man on the phone told her to get out of the house immediately. It was too late and by the time the men in protective clothing got there, the cactus had burst open releasing thousands of tiny spiders who made the woman their first meal.

Fads

• What are some current fads?

Fads

Fads

Fads

Fads

Fads

Social Movements

• large informal groupings of individuals and/or organizations focused on specific political or social issues– carrying out, resisting or undoing a social

change

Social Movements

• Examples:– Revolutions (American, French, Russian, etc.)– Human Rights (Equality based on race,

gender, sexual orientation, etc.)– Peace/Disarmament– Environmentalism– Anti-globalization

Deprivation theory

• Argues that social movements have their foundations among people who feel deprived of some good(s) or resource(s)

• According to this approach, individuals who are lacking some good, service, or comfort are more likely to organize a social movement to improve (or defend) their conditions

Mass society theory

• Argues that social movements are made up of individuals in large societies who feel insignificant or socially detached

• Social movements, according to this theory, provide a sense of empowerment and belonging that the movement members would otherwise not have

Social Concern Theory

• Argues that social movements occur when a social institution is threatened by change

• May be a reactionary

Structural strain theory • Helps explain movements that aim to bring big changes to society• For this type of movement to occur, the following factors must exist1. structural conduciveness - people believe their society has

problems 2. structural strain - people experience deprivation 3. growth and spread of a solution - a solution to the problems

people are experiencing is proposed and spreads 4. precipitating factors - discontent usually requires a catalyst (often

a specific event) to turn it into a social movement 5. lack of social control - the entity that is to be changed must be at

least somewhat open to the change; if the social movement is quickly and powerfully repressed, it may never materialize

6. mobilization - people do what needs to be done

Assignment

• Think of 3 social movements

• For each, suggest which theory best explains this movement and why you think so