by Harry Lewis Safety at live music events has become an increasing concern in recent years, spurred by high-profile incidents that have attracted global attention. These incidents have driven calls for more government support and funding to improve crowd safety…
The August 2024 riots: Empowerment of the xenophobes
The riots in some English towns this week came 13 years almost to the day after the wave of riots that swept England following the killing of Mark Duggan in London, 2011. There are some parallels, but also some crucial…
Six zombie ideas in crowd psychology
What are zombie ideas? These are ideas that keep coming back, even though they have been thoroughly refuted by the evidence. They should be dead, but they won’t stay dead! They keep coming back because they serve certain interests or…
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How can online support groups help people with Long Covid?
By Freya Mills, PhD Student, Emergency Preparedness and Response HPRU, University of Sussex & UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) The UK has recently finished their first round of public evidence hearing for the COVID-19 inquiry. The inquiry aims to identify…
Solidarity in the aftermath of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake
Selin Tekin and Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir The city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey was hit with 7.7. and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes on 6 February, which majorly affected more than 10 cities in southeast Turkey and northwest Syria. As of now, it was…
Could a shared sense of ‘us-ness’ have helped during the response to the Manchester Arena Attack?
How group psychology can help improve interoperability By Louise Davidson According to Part Two of the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena Attack, one of the key problems with the response on the night was that the three emergency services…
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Case study: UK Covid mutual aid groups
By John Drury and Evangelos Ntontis In 2020, tens of thousands of people got involved in Covid mutual aid and similar community support groups, with over 4000 new groups being set up in Spring of that year. Who were they?…
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A Rapid Response Ethnography of the Crowds around the Queen’s Passing
By Carina Hoerst, Klara Jurstakova, Nuria Martinez, Sam Vo, & Sara Vestergren On Thursday, 8 September, 2022, HM Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle after a 70-year-long reign. A 10-day period of mourning was announced ending with the funeral…
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Queuing for the Queen or Queuing for the Queue? The creation of shared identities, friendships, and history
By Carina Hoerst & Sara Vestergren Media extensively broadcasted Queen Elizabeth II’s passing and funeral, and the crowds gathered to mourn her. The reasons for people to join the crowds and wait for up to 25 hours were multiple. Some…
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Behavioural legacies of ‘freedom’ days
By John Drury July 19th last year (2021) was characterised as ‘freedom day’ by the UK government and media. On that date, there were three notable changes in policy in relation to the Covid pandemic: nightclubs were allowed to reopen, social…
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