Swarming and the social dynamics of global violence

Riots such as the Cronulla and Macquarie Fields occurrences and media reports of large numbers of individuals gatecrashing parties understandably raise community concern about the prevalence and causes of group violence. This is a difficult area to research as the number of events is typically low, although their impact can be high. There are also different forms of mass groupings of individuals with higher and lower levels of associated violence. This paper provides a broad overview of these different group formations and identifies commonalities between particular group formations that are associated with violence. The paper also identifies two community policing initiatives focused on improving police–community relations. Such understanding will assist in the development of specific policy and practitioner responses that seek to prevent or reduce the escalation of group violence when there is the unexpected gathering of large numbers of people.