Final answer:
Collective action theories such as value-added theory, contagion theory, convergence theory, and emergent norm theory each describe different conditions and processes that explain crowd behavior. These theories are matched with corresponding examples to demonstrate how these collective actions come about in different situations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Several theories explain how collective action comes about in sociology. These theories seek to understand the conditions and processes that lead to people acting together in groups or crowds. Matching the theories to the provided examples would look like this:
- Value-added theory: This theory, by Neil Smelser, suggests that several conditions must be met for collective behavior to occur. In the provided example, workers improve factory conditions by forming a committee, which aligns with the value-added theory, as their collective action likely follows the theory's stages such as structural conduciveness, strain, and the growth and spread of a generalized belief.
- Contagion theory: This theory proposes that behaviors in a crowd can be 'contagious,' meaning that emotions and actions can spread rapidly through a crowd without rational processing. The sports team winning and leading to vandalism is an example of contagion theory, where the initial celebration mood escalates into uncontrolled behavior.
- Convergence theory: It suggests that people with similar attitudes and predispositions come together, leading to collective action. The example of individuals gathering spontaneously at a crime site hints at convergence theory as they share common feelings about the hate crime and discuss a protest march.
- Emergent norm theory: Proposed by sociologists Ralph Turner and Lewis Killian, this theory posits that, in the absence of established norms, new norms emerge from the interactions within the crowd. The classroom scenario where one pupil's defiance leads others to follow suit is indicative of emergent norm theory, as new behaviors emerge from the evolving group dynamic.