The Crowd

In this article from the Boston Globe, criminal justice practitioners speculate about why teens—acting in gangs—commit crimes that appear to be senseless, but often result from a decision they have made to act with evil intent at a particular time and place; and whoever is in their way at that point becomes a victim.

The behavior of crowds to influence individual behavior in ways individuals may not do on their own has been well studied for centuries and one book is The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon, written in the 19th century but still relevant.

An excerpt from the Boston Globe article.

“In all of the cases, a public outcry went up about the senselessness of the crimes. But specialists say there were distinct methods at work - such as the teens working in teams to pull off the killings.

“Boys will feed off each other - feeling like everyone hates us, we’re a band of brothers, wild and dangerous, that does ruthless things,’’ said Ted Kirkpatrick, co-director of Justiceworks, a crime and justice research unit at the University of New Hampshire. “Then it becomes a whirlpool that increases in intensity and speed and aggression.’’

“Groups embolden people. The leader of a group is rewarded by the fact that others are following his lead - so much that they will kill for him. And on the flip side, the followers are gratified when they are complimented by someone they admire on their toughness,’’ said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University.”