Crowds

Question 1

Types of crowds - 10 plus explanation/example

Answer 1

1) ambulatory crowd - walking crowd exiting or entering a venue.
2) limited moving crowd - stuck, trapped in a space.
3) spectator crowd - watching event, show.
4) expressive crowd - celebrating.
5) participatory crowd - engaged in acts related to a performance.
6) hostile crowd - disregards instructions from officials
7) demonstrator crowd - specific aim of being organised to protest.
8) trampling - evacuations, panicking mob.
9) suffocating - people being compressed limited to no movement.
10) violent - aim to acquire, attack.

Question 2

Crowd characteristics and behaviours (10)

Answer 2

1) organisation and leadership
2) cohesiveness
3) common purpose
4) emotional level or intensity
5) level of external surveillance control
6) criminal or lawless activity
7) violence
8) property damage
9) injuries, death
10) intense pleasure, great rewards

Question 3

Studying crowd behaviours (6)

Answer 3

1) assessing crowd size
2) shape and basic structure
3) boundaries
4) internal orientation of crowd members
5) key environmental conditions
6) speed of movement in mobile crowds

Question 4

Assessing Crowd size (1)

Answer 4

• crowds commonly assessed by size.

Question 5

Shape and basic structure (3)

Answer 5

• the ring: individuals randomly distributed over a flat surface, a point of common interest, get a ring of spectaculars.
• more interested parties closer to centre of ring.
• useful for getting close to a speaker.

Question 6

Boundaries (1)

Answer 6

• permeability: who can join the crowd, is the entry open to new comers or must it be approved?

Question 7

Internal orientation of crowd members(3)

Answer 7

• Polarisation: summaries the way crowd members are facing.
• gives an idea of the purpose and unity of the crowd.
• can be useful for distributing messages.

Question 8

Key environmental conditions(1)

Answer 8

• shape of environmental radically alters crowd functioning.

Question 9

Speed of movement in mobile crowds (2)

Answer 9

• usually recorded by walking distance over time.

- crowds can be used to calculate safe walking speed, cultural differences in exit times.

Question 10

Technology, crowds and privacy

- control and measure issues(3)

Answer 10

• security threats in contemporary crowds.
• major control measures
  > camera
  > greater police present
  > scanning machines
  > ID cards at all time
• generally acknowledge as somewhere effective through planning, keeping individuals identified and not deindividuated.

Question 11

Crowds defined (6)

Answer 11

No singular all purpose definition, but has a range of important criteria.

1) size - usually 10+
2) density - safe densities for standing is 47 people per 10sq meters, and 40/10 if moving.
3) time - able to specify coherent existence of numbers over a set time.
4) collectively and shared identity - share some common goals and interests.
5) coherent actions - act as a unified mass.