Mob Mentality

[Agent99]

After reading the "Was she asking to get raped?" thread I wondered about the mob mentality in general.

Let's hear your views on why attendees of sporting events go crazy after games and vandalize property, start fires, loot, commit assaults etc. When did this phenomenon begin? Other than a few isolated events, it seems to me that it has only sprung up within the last few years.

Why when the home team wins do the fans go crazy? (Logic would seem to dictate that they would be angrier and more prone to violence if their team lost)

Is it just because most of them are drunk? Can we attribute such moronic behavior on alcohol and drugs? Why is it more predominant in collegiate level games? (For you Europeans, is this similar to fights at soccer games?)

Why does the media continue to portray this as "rowdy" and not call it a riot? I have seen it referred to as "a new pastime following big sports victories."

People are getting louder, more profane, demonstrative and out of control. Throwing things on the field at officials, police, players. What is causing this? Why is everyone so angry?

 

[Guest]

 

[Linedrive]

Let's hear your views on why attendees of sporting events go crazy after games and vandalize property, start fires, loot, commit assaults etc. When did this phenomenon begin?

Alcohol + sporting events = Violence

I just want to know how the Euro's and Brits are able to get those bags of urine to fly so far through the air.

 

[Lancecastor]

Future Shock.
The pace of change is accelerating; average people are losing their ability to keep up with changes brought on by globalization, media overload...

Secularism.
Less adherence to the common values that controlled social behavior.

Fundamentalism.
Tapping into the anger of the increasingly disaffected.

 

[Guest]

 

[Minkey Boodle]

The mob doesn't exist. It was all made up by the FBI and Hollywood to cast Italian Americans in a bad light.

 

[Guest]

The mob doesn't exist. It was all made up by the FBI and Hollywood to cast Italian Americans in a bad light.

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The offending word is mafia, MB, not mob.


Oh, by the way, a guy named 'Joey' will be by to visit you later.

 

[Agent99]

I agree that we are losing sight of common values and, thus, losing support for any social norms, standards and morés.

I am not sure I understand the connection between fundamentalism and why those folks who are disenfranchised project this attitude during a sporting event.

Lioness, of course, we have all sat next to loudmouthed, belligerent drunks before, but now it seems that people join in instead of ridiculing or shunning such behavior.

 

[Minkey Boodle]

Mob, mafia...same thing.

As long as this 'Joey' has a nice bat, he's welcome any time.

 

[Agent99]

LOL @ the Boodle.

I guess this means we should only expect the Cosa Nostra to show up at the Pasta Bowl?

 

[Guest]

I agree that we are losing sight of common values and, thus, losing support for any social norms, standards and morés.

I am not sure I understand the connection between fundamentalism and why those folks who are disenfranchised project this attitude during a sporting event.

Lioness, of course, we have all sat next to loudmouthed, belligerent drunks before, but now it seems that people join in instead of ridiculing or shunning such behavior.

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You've probably read Lord of the Flies, right? That's what I think about in searching for a definition.

One certainly doesn't have to be drunk to be part of a mob.

 

[Minkey Boodle]

Cosa's a nice enough guy, I suppose. If you like that big, hairy foreign look.

 

[takingchances42]

Mob psychology has always been around, and used to be more violent than it is now, as the world used to be a more violent place. That was why the Roman Emporers gave the mob "bread and circuses", i.e. crucifying Christians, kept the masses distracted and from turning on their rulers.

 

[Agent99]

Excellent point PRM. That is why I asked what causes it? Can we attribute it solely to mind altering substances? I don't think so.

And takingchances, I made the same point in a discussion with a friend. The Roman Empire rewarded blood lust with the introduction of Gladiators, lions, crucifixions.

 

[Guest]

Excellent point PRM. That is why I asked what causes it? Can we attribute it solely to mind altering substances? I don't think so.

And takingchances, I made the same point in a discussion with a friend. The Roman Empire rewarded blood lust with the introduction of Gladiators, lions, crucifixions.

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And more recently, Nazi Germany in the 1930's.

 

[Agent99]

Well, I am still more interested in the relationsihp between sporting events and mob rule than in political applications.

 

[Guest]

Well, I am still more interested in the relationsihp between sporting events and mob rule than in political applications.

____

Errr... they're the same things, right?

 

[Nora]

Ok, there's different kinds of mobs, ergo differing mob mentalities. Y'all seem to be talking about uncontrolled, or un-unified mobs, like the ones you'll see at sporting events (including those who went to see the Gladiators) as opposed to mobs that join together for a unified purpose, such as the Reign of Terror in France.

I think that mobs that aren't unifed for a specific purpose are cyclical. When people have to scrape for their needs to be met, working 24/7, you won't see that kind of mob. Mainly because people won't be congregating for entertainment. Then things get better for a period, and you get the rise of liturgical theatre, then theatre for entertainment's sake, then it escalates. Then people want bigger, louder, more THRILL in their entertainment. American Gladiators in the 80's to me was the sign of things to come. Of course, historically that period's usually followed by war, famine and strife and thus the whole cycle begins again. When did it begin? I'd guess that recorded history doesn't go back that far, 99.

Mobs that come together for political reasons are a different animal. They don't do it to heighten the thrill, they do it out of necessity and for survival. Fortunately, in the Western World, those are becoming more scarce. But any time you have a group of people who feel powerless and hopeless, that kind of mob is inevitable and usually disappates shortly after accomplishing or failing at their goal.

 

[Evil Attorney]

Mobs offer aninimoty and approval.

Take a gang-bang in a frat house were the guys find an intoxicated girl and pull a train on her.

Most of those guys, we hope, would never grab a girl off the street and rape her ALONE, or if they knew it would bring negative reactions of police and society, but if you add in crowd approval and the posibility of being lost in the crowd, it becomes a dangerously possible thing it will happen.

THe LA riots were similar, were people "knew" they could get away with things because their were so many people around that they could not identified and everyone else was doing it, so why shouldn't they.

People fear acting without approval and they fear acting in a a way that will bring reprisal.

Remove those fears in the actor's mind with a bunch of people saying "YEAH!!! DO HER!!" and their you go.

 

[bknight2602]

When caught up in the psychology of the isseue, remember that man is a pack animal. It is easier to go with the flow than against it. Why are those that are that fight against the norm called rebels, because "we" tend to hunt in packs. So the herd is "right" as far as our environment says!

 

[Guest]

When caught up in the psychology of the isseue, remember that man is a pack animal. It is easier to go with the flow than against it. Why are those that are that fight against the norm called rebels, because "we" tend to hunt in packs. So the herd is "right" as far as our environment says!

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You... you... ALPHA male, you!

 

[Agent99]

Absolutely right, Nora.

While everyone's comments have been accurate and historical in nature, I was referring to the dramatic increase in unruly behavior at college football games in particular.

Last week alone there were 9 different instances around the country where crowds ripped up turf, hurled bottles and objects inside the stadium and then went on rampages later by overturning cars, setting fires, urinating on lawns.

I am just curious as to why this is becoming the norm. Why can't they find some other form of expression once a game is finished? Why is criminality the end result?

Evil Attorney and BK you make great points and they DO apply to athletics. I am sure absent alcohol and friends egging them on, most of these people would never behave in this manner.

 

[Nora]

99, there was a fantastic study about a "spontanious post game celebration" here at UT a while back done by our Sociology Department. The problem with studies on mob mentality is that there isn't usually a trained observer around when one happens, for this there was. The paper was fantastic. I'll see if i can find it.

 

[takingchances42]

To go with what BK said, this whole thing of getting all wrapped in your football team is primal pack behavior -- those are the emotions being satisfied. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise if it spills over into some other forms of pack behavior?

 

[bknight2602]

_____


You... you... ALPHA male, you!

LMAO Thanks Manx, I needed that!