Revision:Social Identity Theory

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Proposed by Reicher, applies social identity theory and self-categorisation theory to collective behaviour.

Two fundamental points:

• Crowds are often a direct collective confrontation between groups (say, the Police and rioters).
• People in a crowd assume the identity of the group that they are in

Crowds often coalesce for a particular purpose (because they are in the same community, or have a political cause (for example environmentalism). There is often a high degree of shared identity, and as such members of the crowd self-categorise themselves in terms of the group they are in.

The social identity of the group stipulates what is and what is not acceptable. For example, violent football hooligans might find destruction a legitimate and normal behaviour pattern. Conversely, delegates at a political meeting might not.

Crowd members will look to the members of the core group for guidance on how to behave. Thus, self-categorisation theory explains how police and rioters behave in different ways despite being given the same environmental stimulus.

The St. Paul's Riot in Bristol, Spring 1980.

Reicher used his theory to test perspectives on a riot in an Bristol (UK) community. The St. Paul's community was generally considered to be an economically deprived area, inhabited by a largely Afro-Caribbean population. He found that:

• Destruction only affected those elements of the community that were seen as extensions of external society infringing on the territory of the community.
• The riots remained within the boundaries of the St. Paul's community.
• During and after the riots the sense of shared identity of the rioters was reaffirmed.

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