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Jaxon G. Williams
Professor Simone Suddreth
English 1010
November 22, 2015
Rioting Becoming a Norm
Rioting is considered to be a lot of things depending on the organization, the number of
people, and what it is that the people are fighting over. Rioting includes acts of violence, arsine,
vandalism, looting, and more, all of these are considered a crime. Reasons for rioting can range
anywhere from battling for rights being treaded upon by government to a simple desire to follow
an idea. The root cause of rioting comes down to a decision forced upon others by their
circumstances the way that they think and react to those circumstances.
Malcolm Gladwell did research on a different point of rioting that relates to the mental
wellness of a person. He relates rioting to the school shootings that have taken place over the last
few years staring with the school shooting at Columbine Elementary. In his news article he
makes the argument that the school shooting at Columbine Elementary is a possible catalyst for
the school shootings since then. His theory is that Eric Harris has now become some kind of
heroic figure. After what this psychotic man had done, it laid a path for the next psychotic person
to follow. After the first dozen or so people who are troubled, crazy, or otherwise not in their
right state of mind follow the first man it starts to become common for those who are still sane. It
has a domino effect on the people as an action becomes more and more common. The question
of if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you, becomes all the more real and now has a

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whole new meaning as this theory becomes a scary reality. (How Riots May Help Us Understand
School Shooters)
The Theory that Malcolm Gladwell uses comes from a sociologist named Mark
Grenovetter. The Theory is called the Threshold Model of Collective Behavior. The threshold he
describes is talking about how many people or other thresholds would have to act in a state of
rioting. The first starts at 0, this one being much more radical or outgoing then the rest. The
second person has a threshold of 1 and once the first guy starts the next one joins in and so forth.
This Theory is one of behavior. Its like a comfort zone that someone isnt willing to breach until
there are enough people that they do feel comfortable. This puts into perspective the true
meaning of a domino effect and how it keeps going and becomes a norm being more vastly
accepted by everyone. For example some of the words we use now in this day and age have
completely different meanings from what they used to mean. The word gay is a good example
which used to mean happy, now it means homosexual and this is because enough people used it
with that meaning until it became generally accepted by the populace. (Threshold Model of
Collective Behavior)
The psychological way of thinking is one way of looking at rioting but the physical
reasons of why rioting occurs vary and change person to person. The ways in which people are
living contribute to a large portion of why people act like they do. In most cities there is a part of
the city that most people will refer to as the slums. The reasons why these places exist varies but
a lot of the time they dont make enough money to support themselves in large homes. Some of
these cheap places to live are provided by government subsidies. The reasons for people living in
these areas can be many besides just low income but it all boils down to the lack of money for
them to live. This makes these areas higher in criminal activity, higher chance of drop outs from

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school and kids joining gangs because they dont have enough to survive without help from what
they see as friends. (Fighting Urban Poverty)
The people who live in these areas often relate and jump on board of riots because of the
way that they are treated. They wish that they could work and get a good enough wage for their
family but its not enough and so they complain and murmur until the opportunity rises up to
rebel and fight against the government. These areas are predominantly black and it is factual that
blacks are in poverty more than any other race in the United States. (Fighting Urban Poverty)
Police brutality is something that has become a huge deal especially in these poverty
areas. The reason of why comes down to the racial conflict between blacks and whites. In the
police case they should not be harming others at all for their crimes unless they are physically in
danger themselves. This goes for all cases regardless of color, size, or ethnicity. Police brutality
is real but it isnt just black people who are under this threat it involves everyone who are living
in poorer areas. Those who live in poor areas with a higher crime contingency are going to be
looked at differently than others black, white, Asian, Latino, it doesnt change. Yes, racism plays
a huge part in the way people act and in the case of Fredie Gray in Baltimore and the Watts case
50 years earlier are both horrific events that occurred because of police brutality. This caused
huge breakouts of rioting in Baltimore and several other states because of the mistreatment of
Fredie Gray. (The Roots of a Riot)
In the theory that Malcolm Gladwell hypothesizes there is a connection with the way riots
work in the minds of the people. For the Baltimore Riots caused by police brutalities it can be
said that Watts was a catalyst that made this whole thing go out of proportion in Baltimore
because one group or threshold already did it. After Baltimore other places also rioted because of

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the unfairness of it all following that same trend. Thanks to the news media the event was able to
spread further and faster than just Baltimore and surrounding area but other large cities in the
nation. The reason why the theory presented has become so real is because of the amount of
availability and access people have to it meaning there is a higher chance of someone joining
with the first and become something more because of it. (How Riots May Help Us Understand
School Shooters)
The key to stop riots can be broken down to economy, the news and how it can be fixed
by income and the type of news being spread nationally. The idea of fixing the economy by
raising the base pay of income would help people to get off of government funds and become
self-sufficient. If those who are in poverty could work and take care of their families and even
move out then the atmosphere would change. (Fighting Urban Poverty) If the news had more
control of what they televised and were careful to wait for all the facts to come forward then it
could help prevent misunderstandings that cause people to go out of hand. (How Riots May Help
Us Understand School Shooters)
In all of the cases stated above there is substantial proof that the Threshold Model of
Collective Behavior is real. Because of the news and the speed that it is able to convey
information there is a higher chance of people who are ready to join in riots or other radical ideas
faster. Riots can be fixed but there needs to be a shift in how those who are impoverished receive
help. Brutality by police would decrease as new norms become stronger and as the collective
power of people come together. This new idea can change the way people react and switch
radical norms to something more influential. By stabilizing the economy and the way people see
and think there can be an end to riots.

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Works cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. "How Riots May Help Us Understand School Shooters." NPR. NPR, 03
Nov. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Grenovetter, Mark. "Threshold Model of Collective Behavior." American Jornal of Sociology.
University of Chicago Press, 04 June 2004. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Lemons, Jane Fullerton. "Fighting Urban Poverty." CQ Researcher 17 July 2015: 601-24. Web.
19 Nov. 2015.
Von Drehle, David, et al. "The Roots of A Riot. (Cover Story)." Time 185.17 (2015): 34-39.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.