NCJ Number
15293
Date Published
1973
Length
256 pages
Annotation
EXAMINES THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF THE LOS ANGELES WATTS RIOT OF AUGUST 1965 AND FORMULATES A COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY OF URBAN MASS VIOLENCE.
Abstract
FOLLOWING A RECALL OF THE SERIES OF EVENTS THAT SPARKED THE RIOT AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTUAL SIX DAY DISTURBANCE, THE AUTHORS DISCUSS THE RESULTS OF A POLL DETERMINING WHO THE ACTUAL PARTICIPANTS WERE. THE DATA SHOWS THAT CONTRARY TO MOST THEORIES OF URBAN VIOLENCE, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS RIOT WAS A CROSS SECTION OF ALL THE AREA NATIVES. THE AUTHORS THEN FOCUS ON THE YOUNG BLACKS, SUGGESTING THAT THESE YOUNG NATIVES CONSTITUTE AN IDENTIFIABLE GROUP, WHOSE PSYCHOLOGY IS SO DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF OTHERS IN THE GHETTO THAT THEY HAVE BEEN CALLED NEW URBAN BLACKS. A DESCRIPTION IS THEN PRESENTED OF THE GRIEVANCES AND DISCONTENTS HELD BY AREA RESIDENTS. THE AUTHORS THEN TEST THE NEW URBAN BLACKS' DISTINCTIVE EARLY POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION BY RELATING INDICATORS OF THIS SOCIALIZATION (AGE, PLACE OF ORIGIN, URBANIZATION, AND EDUCATION) TO THOSE DISPOSITIONS HYPOTHESIZED TO BE PRODUCTS OF EARLY POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION (RACIAL ATTITUDES, POLITICAL DISAFFECTION, AND GREATER POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT). OTHER TOPICS DISCUSSED INCLUDE RIOTING AS A FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT, RIOTING AS A RANDOM OUTBURST, THE LOCAL WHITE CONTEXT, OFFICIALS' REACTIONS TO THE RIOT, RACIAL POLARIZATION, AND RIOT IDEOLOGY. THE FINAL CHAPTER THEN SUMMARIZES THE MAIN LINE OF ARGUMENT, INCLUDING THE MOST IMPORTANT EMPIRICAL FINDINGS, CONSIDERS THE RELEVANCE OF THOSE FINDINGS AND LOOKS GENERALLY AT THE FUTURE OF URBAN VIOLENCE AND RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA.