Article
"Can We All Get Along?"--The Los Angeles Uprising, Classical Theories of Social Psychology, and the Dialectics of Individual Action and Structural Inequality
Race, Gender, and Class
(2004)
Abstract
This essay reviews and critiques three classic theoretical perspectives in social psychology in order to achieve a dialectical understanding of both the individual and societal factors that were central to the police beating of Rodney King and the subsequent Los Angeles uprising of 1992. The argument is made that a properly dialectical approach allows observers to include both individual processes and socially motivated factors and influences when attempting to analyze real world phenomena.
Keywords
- deindividuation,
- scapegoating,
- realistic group,
- conflict,
- social identity theory
Disciplines
Publication Date
2004
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Citation Information
Bill Yousman. ""Can We All Get Along?"--The Los Angeles Uprising, Classical Theories of Social Psychology, and the Dialectics of Individual Action and Structural Inequality" Race, Gender, and Class Vol. 11 Iss. 1 (2004) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/bill_yousman/7/