Crowds can refer to both random groups and organized crime groups. Mob behavior can lead to violent actions and terrible crimes. Protests are legal and peaceful, while mobs often ignore laws. Mobs have a bad reputation throughout history, and experts have tried to explain why people turn to violence in a group. Flash mobs are a popular example of a non-violent group gathering, but can still be dismantled by law enforcement.
A crowd is, simply, a group of people gathered together. In legal usage, the term can refer to a variety of different matters, including organized crime groups and more random mobs. Psychologists have wondered for years about the behavioral means by which decisions are made in a mass or large group structure; While mob behavior isn’t always a bad thing, the actions of violent mobs have occasionally changed history and often led to terrible crimes.
There is a key difference between random mobs and an organized crime group known as a mob. Organized crime is largely prohibited worldwide, although some experts suggest that criminal gangs and mafia-like criminal groups increased dramatically in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. A mob, on the other hand, may come together for a specific purpose, but is usually not part of a multifaceted global criminal plan. Drug trafficking, prostitution rings, and racketeering are criminal charges often related to organized crime, while looting, disturbing the peace, and assaulting are more commonly associated with random mobs.
There is often some confusion between protests and mobs. In many regions, the right to protest is protected by law, while the right to gather in large numbers is simply frowned upon or criminalised. A protest may seek to change or overturn a law, but it does so through established, legal, and peaceful methods.
The association of crowd behavior with negative actions dates back to ancient Rome, where the term comes from. Mafia rule, also known as ochlocracy, was considered by ancient social philosophers to be a poor form of government, since, like tyranny, it acted on behalf of special interests over the needs of the people. In general, mob actions can be defined as a group of citizens choosing to ignore a law, be it a social maxim or a codified rule.
Mobs certainly have a bad reputation on all pages of history. The French Revolution, the Salem witch trials, and numerous lynchings in 19th- and 20th-century America are all associated with this type of gathering. Experts have tried for generations to explain why a normally peaceful and law-abiding person turns to violence or crime when she is involved in a mob; one leading theory suggests that it is the faceless existence of a large group that allows a person to commit crimes or atrocities more anonymously.
While not all mobs are violent-minded, some versions often skirt the edges of the law. One example is flash mob culture, which has gained significant popularity through social networking sites. Flash mobs require a group of people to show up at a specific place, day, and time to take part in a silly or unusual joke or activity, such as pillow fights or synchronized dancing. While they serve relatively peaceful purposes, flash mobs are often dismantled by law enforcement out of public safety concerns.
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