Misunderstanding of out-group behaviour: Different interpretations of the same crowd events among police officers and demonstrators

• Published in: Nordic psychology 2010-12, Vol.62 (4), p.25-47
• Main Authors: Hylander, Ingrid, Guvå, Gunilla
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Collective Behavior; Human; Ingroup Outgroup; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Police Personnel; Social Demonstrations
• ISSN: 1901-2276; 1904-0016
• DOI: 10.1027/1901-2276/a000020

This study focuses on group behaviour between the police force and groups of demonstrators with respect to one group's ability to interpret the other group's behaviour and intentions. Data were collected from police and demonstrators regarding the same crowd events at the EU summit in Gothenburg in 2001. Five types of crowd events, three of which turned violent, are analysed. A theory about interactive aggravation and mitigation processes (AM model) was evolved. The model illuminates the different views of the police and the demonstrators. It particularly depicts three critical interactive processes, categorising, organising and mutual treatment, the extreme positions of which may be either aggravation (escalating conflicts and leading to riots) or mitigation (de-escalating conflicts and leading to peaceful demonstrations). It is further proposed that contextual factors such as type of demonstration and type of demonstrators significantly influence the way the police react to different types of crowds. The result supports the Elaborated Social Identity Model as proposed by Reicher and colleagues and the AM model is discussed with reference to that tradition.