Search results

In a comparative study drawing on material from the United States and Britain, this book, first published in 1992, examines how various types of industrial, political, urban and sectarian disorder occur. In the early 1990s public disorder returned to the top of the political agenda, and yet was consistently met with confusion and misunderstanding. Public discussion was superficial and emotive, contributing little helpful enlightenment and creating no prospect of sensible policy change. This book presents the flashpoints' model, to explain that public disorder is most likely to occur where a group perceives that its rights are being violated or denied. The model is demonstrated in a selection of vivid case studies which are both international and historical in scope, covering British and American inner-city riots, sports spectator violence, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. In particular it traces the growth of police powers and assesses how effective democratic control over police behaviour actually is. It also considers the assertion that media coverage can have an inflammatory effect on public disorder.

This book draws on a wide range of studies of collective conflict and the policing of crowds and social movements to provide an understanding of the causes and management of public disorder. It seeks to describe and explain the processes by which the police interpret and respond to instances of public disorder, to account for variations in their strategies and tactics, and to identify the conditions in which police interventions (or inaction) may serve to enhance or reduce the potential for wider confrontation. In addition to providing a penetrating review and critique of relevant theory, the

Dedication -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1: Introduction: Understanding Riots -- The Endurance of the Irrationality Thesis of Crowd Behaviour -- Disorderly Criminals -- Depoliticising Collective Disorder -- Multivariate Explanations and the Political Significance of Riots -- 2: The Revised Flashpoints Model of Public Disorder -- The Rationality and Emotionality of Riots -- The Flashpoints Model of Public Disorder -- Related Theoretical Developments -- Introducing the Revised Flashpoints Model -- 3: 'France in Flames': The French Riots of 2005

From jubilant sports fans celebrating a victory to angry political protestors, crowds create volatile situations that can all too often result in violence or property destruction. Preventing Crowd Violence offers a lucid examination of crowd behavior and of law enforcement tactics designed to deescalate tensions and promote cooperative interactions