The Majority's Dangerous Rule

The Majority’s Dangerous Rule

         Click, went my phone as I closed the small black device. Dad said he would be here soon. I shivered gently as the chilly October air slid coolly over my bare shoulders. My blue knee high, spaghetti strapped home coming dress did not defend against the fall Californian breeze. A low male voice that had barely budded its boom called “Hey!” As I glanced over my shoulder in the direction of the shout, a handsome young man, of about15, swaggered toward me. I recognized his caramel face and dark hair from school though I did not know his name. He said that he wanted to show me something in the alley on the side of the school. I shrugged and agreed to follow him. The clack of my high heels echoed down the alley, and my heart began to thump harder in my chest. I began to notice more figures mid-way down the dimly lit area. They were all much larger than me. I took a deep breath and told my young companion that my dad would be here soon, and that I didn’t have time to see what he had to show me. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me hard. Roughly his lips met mine, and one hand ran under my skirt and began its work. There was alcohol on his breath. I struggled and broke away. As I attempted to run out of the alley, he coldly tripped me. Down I slammed into the pavement. There was a terrible ache in my right hand. Other men, men my assailant seemed to know, strolled up. Another older man slammed his foot into my ribs. There was an undeniable crack. I screamed and swiftly my mouth was covered by a large hand. They began their work. Off came my underwear, belt buckles were undone, fists and feet relentlessly bruised and bloodied my body. It seemed as if an army had been in me and was now beating me as I swam in a putrid sea of my own vomit. As I faded in and out of consciousness, I caught glimpses of my audience. I cried for help until my voice was just an unintelligible rasp. My audience only cheered harder. There were those who only stood passively by, watching as if they were watching lions mate on the discovery channel, there were others who cheered on my feral tormenters as they fed on the lions’ kill. Dad said he would be here soon. Finally, I succumbed to the blackness.

         The effect of a crowd on the individual is profound. The “bystander effect”, “mass hysteria”, and “herd mentality” are three different kinds of psychological ailments that can be experienced by individuals in groups; all three effect individuals and those around them differently, but all three are dangerous and downright terrifying. Awareness of these crowd inspired, mind washing mental states must be raised so that the general public may be better prepared in large groups. There are many examples throughout history (recent and ancient) of these three crowd inspired mentalities, though the above example of a 15 year old California resident being gang raped by at least 20 different men as onlookers stood by and even encouraged the men, as described by Mary Coe, Radha Chitale, and Kevin Fagan, is one of the most potent. The actions of both the onlookers and the participants of this heinous crime can be mildly described as complex.

         One of the terms used to help those not directly associated with such an experience is “bystander effect”. The “bystander effect” is described as a state “in which people are less likely to respond to an emergency when there are others around” (Radha). Meg Bossong of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center further explains this strange phenomenon.

“The idea [is] that the more people there are around, the fewer people will get involved because there's a diffusion of responsibility,’ she said. ‘Not stepping in sends the message that it's not such a big deal. ... This is something that we hear a lot about around crime and also around sexual assault.” (Radha)

In other words, the entity of the crowd itself is as much to blame for the assault of a young girl as the assaulters themselves. It is theorized that the crowd’s inaction perpetuated the assaulter’s bad behavior, along with just allowing it to happen. Because the “majority’s rule” was that the men’s terrible behavior was acceptable, their bad behavior continued to escalate.

         A “herd mentality” could have also been another contributing factor to the horrible events that occurred that October night. “Researchers discovered that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd’s direction – and that the other 95 per cent follow without realizing it”, states Rick Nauert, the senior news editor of Psych Central, about the effects of a small percentage of an influential core on the group. We, as humans and animals, are apparently easily led. Nauert also asserts that “There are many situations where this information could be used to good effect. At one extreme, it could be used to inform emergency planning strategies and at the other, it could be useful in organizing pedestrian flow in busy areas.” This is a sound point; still it validates the fact that we, as humans, are very impressionable, and though our capacity to follow can be useful, we must always be aware of ourselves as individuals. If we fail to stay in touch with ourselves, and become lost in the ecstasy of the crowd, who will save the beaten and violated girl, feed the blind homeless man, or speak out against a tyrannical leader’s horrific actions?

         Another type of mob thinking is “mass hysteria”. Robert Bartholomew and Erich Goode, sociologists and writers for The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, describe “mass hysteria” as “the rapid spread of conversion disorder, a condition involving the appearance of bodily complaints for which there is no organic basis” (Goode). I, myself, have experienced and fallen victim to “mass hysteria”. At a church conference in the summer of 2009, when swine flu was prevalent, it was reported that one youth out of the 3000 that were attending the conference had shown symptoms of swine flu. Teenager after teenager after teenager became sick. Eventually our youth group had to leave a whole day early from the conference. After our group of almost 200 students had all been tested for the dreaded swine flu there was only 1 confirmed case. I also had shown symptoms of this particular strain of the flu one evening, though the next day I was as good as new. I surmise that “mass hysteria” was the initiator of all the sickness, and not swine flu as many suspected. A scientifically documented case of “mass hysteria” occurred during the middle ages in a convent in France. One of the nuns housed in the convent began to uncontrollably meow like a cat (cats were thought to be of the devil at this time). Not long after the first seemingly devil-disease stricken nun began meowing, other nuns began too. At last all the nuns meowed together every day at a certain time for several hours together.

The whole surrounding Christian neighborhood heard, with equal chagrin and astonishment, this daily cat-concert, which did not cease until all the nuns were informed that a company of soldiers were placed by the police before the entrance of the convent, and that they were provided with rods, and would continue whipping them until they promised not to meow anymore. (Goode)

The meowing nuns and the sickly teenagers are just a few examples among many of the effects that mass hysteria can have on a group.

         Why is the human species so enthralled with the majority and becoming like it? Has this instinctual need to be like everyone else gotten out of control? Who will be the next to use this great strength-weakness to perform heinous acts of insanity on an individual or select group? I cannot answer these questions. I can only warn of the dangers that a group can impose upon an individual’s mind. Knowing the sweet song of your own soul and the values that you, not your parents, religious group, or friends, support are the only useful combatants against the overbearing clatter of the crowd. “To thine own self be true,” states Shakespeare through the guise of Polonius. Though Shakespeare is “only a playwright” his words hold great meaning, and his advice has been uttered on throughout the generations as a cry for the individual shine through the mind-numbing haze of the crowd.