Patterns of Vandalism during Civil Disorders as an Indicator of Selection of Targets

Abstract

Using data from two independent surveys, this paper examines those ghetto retail merchants who are likely to have their business establishments attacked during civil disorders. The findings, unusual in their complementarity, suggest that riot participants select many of their targets and that the pattern of selection reflects a variety of concerns, from personal gain to pre-political motivations. Interpretations of these findings undercut theories of collective violence that rest on such concepts as suggestability, contagion, and animal shirite