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How riots spread between cities: introducing the police pathway

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Version 2 2023-06-12, 08:10
Version 1 2023-06-10, 01:31
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 08:10 authored by John DruryJohn Drury, Clifford Stott, Roger Ball, Dermot Barr, Linda BellLinda Bell, Stephen Reicher, Fergus Neville
Waves of riots are politically and psychologically significant national events. The role of police perceptions and practices in spreading unrest between cities has been neglected in previous research, even though the police are significant actors in these events. We examined the role of police interventions in the spread of rioting to one English city in August 2011 by triangulating multiple data sources and analyzing police accounts and community-participant interviews. Rioting in other cities had relatively little direct influence in the community, but it led to heightened vigilance in the police. The resultant police mobilization inadvertently created a large gathering in a local community with a history of hostile relations with police. Police attempts to disperse the crowd affected many more people than those originally intending to riot, leading to collective conflict. These findings support a new theoretical account of the role of policing in riot spread. Complementing existing accounts of diffusion, our study helps explain how self-fulfilling prophecy can operate to spread conflict between cities.

Funding

Beyond contagion: Social identity processes in involuntary social influence; G1842; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; ES/N01068X/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Political Psychology

ISSN

0162-895X

Publisher

Wiley

Page range

1-19

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2021-10-26

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2021-10-26

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2021-10-25

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