Neglected Characteristics of Collective Behavior

Abstract

Current development of a more sociological analysis of collective behavior has concentrated on the social characteristics of its conditions and its consequences. The bahavior itself is less clearly conceived of in social terms. Concentration on models of the individual participant in collective behavior has drawn attention away from the fact the behavior is enacted by collectivities with characteristics comparable to, but not indetical with, those enacting institutionalized behavior. Closer and more fruitful relationships between theories of industrialized behavior and theories of collective behavior depend in part on the development of a social-level onception of collective behavior. To this end the two forms of social organization are contrated along the dimensions of social norms and social relationships. On these dimensions, a definition and a typology of collective behavior are suggested.