The Knowledge Society: Group Reactions

The Knowledge Society: Group Reactions

Before addressing the subject, it is important to know the background of the same, because it will allow greater understanding and approach of what is treated. Talking about collective behavior refers to many ideas and very different types. From the behavior of a person within a group to the group’s behavior itself. When references to this term are made, it is first important to know that it develops from different emerging situations and on the other hand that arises as such in 1912 after the sinking of Titanic.

Collective behavior is nothing more than a voluntary action aimed at a goal, which occurs in a relatively disorganized situation, in which the predominant norms and values of society stop acting on individual behavior.

In addition, collective behavior is a behavior that originates spontaneously, relatively unpredictable, without a plan in its development course, depends on mutual stimulation among participants. There is frequently a free game of emotions, a high degree of personal interaction, influence and competition, and the appearance of transitional opinions and submissions.

Three important conditions that characterize relatively unstructured and unstable situations can be taken into account:

• Absence or weakness of social forms.
• Ambiguous and open decisions.
• Changed perspectives and values.

While the study of collective behavior illuminates the dynamic of social change and the ways in which new customs and institutions are established, it also creates new forms of action and new groups in responses to felt needs, details and excitement.

Collective behavior part of society’s daily life. His study contemplates the social world from the point of view of action, of the constant regrouping and perspective that change continuously.

There are theories and perspectives on the different forms of collective behavior. Some of the classic authors are:

1. Le Bon: The crowd is a study of the popular mind, conceives of mass behavior;As a loss of individuality, resulting from the contagious expansion of emotion and the action generated by the group. The members of the crowd participate in the collective mind replacing the conscious personality.
2. Mc Dougall: Talk about the group mind. The homogeneity and distinctivity of the crowd is basically racial. The essential thing about her is that all its members have the same attention to the same object.
3. Freud: focuses its attention on effective ties, (sublimated or denatured sexual instincts in their function) existing among members of a crowd.

Within the field of collective behavior, Blumer points out two main interest spotlights:

1. The study of elementary forms of collective behavior, such as excited populace or war hysteria.
2. The study of the processes that turn these elementary forms into a joint and organized behavior.

Smelser, interprets that the characteristic of elementary collective behavior is the concern communicated by a circular reaction process, so that an individual’s response reproduces the stimulus from another individual, and when reflecting in this individual, it reinforces the stimulus ”

Blumer identifies four basic elementary collective groupings: the acting crowd, the expressive crowd, the mass reports and the public. The first two differ from each other because the acting expressive crowd has a goal or objective, while the expressive multitude relieves their impulses and feelings in merely expressive actions.

In addition, Blumer illustrates the transition from elementary collective behavior to organized behavior through the social movement examination. During its development, the social movement acquires organization and forms, a body of customs and traditions, a established leadership, a division of labor, rules and social values;In sum, a culture, a social organization, and a new life scheme.

These collective behaviors are represented in social groups, the origin of social groups remote to the times of prehistory, when man felt the need to group, to face the problems that confront him daily. The first form of grouping in humans received the name of primitive hordes, which later with the development of man was expanding until he reached the tribes, a product of the development that society reached.

According to the Villamonte author, in his report he writes the following:

Today our society inherits characters of this antiquity, since the social groups that prevail today, have prehistoric sequelae, among which the high society composed of people with the greatest socio -economic status stand out, thus winning the respect of the other individuals thatcompose society.

Man is a social being by nature, just because of the human being, the individual feels the need to meet or rather form or create their social groups, so it was not needed from civilization to emerge social groups, ratherCivilization today exists thanks to the conformation from ancient dates of social groups. Thus being that each living being manifests itself through social groups, however, according to the passing of time, it increases more man’s need to reform the environment where they develop.

Before concluding, feedback can be carried out highlighting important points of the subject, such as: it is called collective behaviors to the behavioral externalizations of a group of people. It originates spontaneously, is unpredictable and therefore little organized and that collective behavior allows the study and understanding of social dynamics and change, as a fundamental part of society.

In this way it can be concluded by pointing out that groups are not only the sum of many individuals, but are substantially different and that the study of collective behavior allows us to understand manifestations such as: gangs, fashion, mass hysteria, revolutions, social movements, social movements,riots, mobs, etc. In addition, that many of the authors who deal with the subject use as synonymous crowds and collective behavior. Differentiating it from others such as: public, mass and social movement.