Riots in London ?? Why ???

A social psychologist's view

For most people looting is opportunistic. And greed is certainly a factor.

But some people approach this situation not necessarily with bad intentions. They are swept away by the crowd, for a variety of reasons highlighted by social psychologists.

One concept is called deindividuation. Normally people's behaviour is guided by their own identity and values, which tell us to not do certain things - like taking things without paying for them.

But in some situations they take on the values of the group. Our own internal values and norms become less salient.

The second idea is called emergent norm theory. Most of these people have probably not been in a riot like this one before. They are unsure of what the appropriate behaviour is.

So they look at what other people are doing. And if other people are doing this, it suggests it's normal. Or at least maybe it is something that I can get away with.

Source: Jason Nier, associate professor of psychology, Connecticut College, speaking to BBC World Service

They are deploying Operation Cobra to stop the perpetrators. But it has also been a strong "wake up call". I hope there is a full investigation on the gangs involved.

Two words sums it up perfectly - opportunist thugs!

Interesting vid. I agree thatches problems and issues need attention too. But I thought UK has a good welfare programme.
Youth going the wrong way could be due to lack of adequate guidance to certain groups.

Originally posted by: Summer3

Interesting vid. I agree thatches problems and issues need attention too. But I thought UK has a good welfare programme.
Youth going the wrong way could be due to lack of adequate guidance to certain groups.

I'm going to use US examples in my post due to familiarity, but politically and economically US and UK are in similar crisis.

The London riots is definitely an example of opportunistic thugs. Gangs decided to take advantage of a peaceful protest to start looting. When police was ineffective, they got bolder and it spread all over. These are basically poor, uneducated, unskilled blue collar class people who have been hit hardest by recession and unemployment. However, that is no excuse for mindless violence and destruction. Many innocents needlessly suffered and the community will bear the brunt of the losses.

That being said I strongly believe the government and their policies are to blame. If the current policies continue, more and more people will be left jobless, unskilled, uneducated with nothing to do but get violent. Education and opportunities decrease gang violence. Lack of education and opportunities promote gang violence.

Welfare and education system is broken in both countries. Hardworking, honest individuals actually do not get the welfare and education opportunities they deserve. Scammers take a free ride on the system. In some places the welfare is so ridiculous that people actually sit jobless to collect welfare. In USA people collect food stamps on welfare and then sell it on FB for profits, using the money to buy TV, games etc. Actual hungry people and homeless people are left scraping at food pantries.

Left wing socialists want to ignore all this fraud and blindly expand the program because people are suffering unemployment and recession. Right wing conservatives want to end/cut back all the programs due to fraud and ignore the suffering people as collateral damage. Left wing socialists want to highly tax the rich to get the money. Right wing socialists try to shelter the rich from paying societal dues.

In my opinion both sides are nuts and acting childish. They need to grow up and find a solution together. The programs are necessary but broken and need to be fixed. Fix the existing programs then see if it needs to be expanded or shrunk.

Many people view welfare, food stamps, medicare, social security as 'entitlement' but in essence they are insurance programs. We pay the 'premiums' in the form of taxes in our paychecks. If we lose our jobs, get disabled, lose our homes due to unfortunate circumstances we collect 'insurance payments'. Just like the premium of a mansion is more than an ordinary house, richer people out to pay higher 'premiums' because their magnitude of loss and compensation in loss is higher.

Properly implemented welfare and education programs also serve society by reducing crime and producing competent skilled individuals to benefit the workforce and national GDP. Proper implementation is the key and that means first eliminating corruption and fraud at all levels – from the government officials planning these, to employees and agencies implementing these and to civilians who receive these benefits.

Instead of making these changes UK and US are both spending unnecessarily in war and cutting back valuable things like education. In our state the governor cut millions of dollars in schools crowding classrooms and cutting after school programs which saved lower income kids from street gangs. Accelerated education, special education is all being cut back. That means bright students don't get opportunities they deserve. Learning disabled students are forced to be societal liabilities due to lack of education. In the recent budget debacle they eliminated subsidized loans for graduate students. It is almost like saying MBA, MBBS, Law, PHD & research programs are worthless. Either quit studying or be prepared to be in debt for the rest of your life. Even undergraduate fees have gone up atrocious amounts over the past few years and many freshmen are faced with the choice – get educated or go bankrupt.

Maybe it is the Indian in me, but I value being educated very highly. I firmly believe that no country can progress and sustain progress without a well educated society. It is not just about being smart and excelling at things. Education exposes you to people, cultures, opportunities so that individuals are mature, well rounded, creative and hardworking. It gives people resources to tackle life's challenges. Without education you get dumb, unskilled, jobless people like the London rioters cant do shit in life but gang violence and robbery.

I hope all nations get a wake up call and bring back education programs, loans and grants at least and give more to schools.

Good points. Welfare system has its benefits too but I guess the system has been abused.
Rioting and looting was instigated by the thugs and gangs, some normal good persons too were drawn in. Most were in their mid 20s and wore masks to indicate that they had it all planned in advance.
Two people who do not work are children of very rich parents and those who cannot find suitable jobs due to one reason or
other. British normally have an easy attitude to work compared
to the Americans who are pretty aggressive.
Job losses are due to mechanization and transfer of manufacturing facilities to countries where labour costs are much lower, especially where jobs are labour intensive or the corporations are forced to lower costs to keep up with the competition. In some cases manufacturing has been transferred due to corporate greed in making more money. There should be a balance.
People need jobs to keep themselves occupied and away from trouble too. In some countries corporations are given incentives for job creation and employment of locals.
Foxconn has a huge Plants in several parts of China that is run like a military camp to produce Apple products. Apple products have very high margins and these can be produced in USA itself.
Corporations are always pressured to bring down costs but they should also consider their social responsibilities. They should not be blinded by greed alone. US Govt did the right thing in saving GM during the last financial crisis.
In Singapore they discourage the employment of foreign labour for lower level work by imposing high levies and restrictions. It is not the best system and there are several improvements that can be made. Generally Govt has done well in creating enough jobs. There are strict laws to forbid labour strikes. But Unions do endure their members are compensated fairly for job loss.