Latinos and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots: A Behavioral Sciences Perspective

Abstract

The role of Latinos in the Los Angeles civil disturbance of 1992 has not been explored. An early explanation was that Latino residents of South Central LosAngeles participated in the riots because they were CentralAmerican, poor, isolated, and unemployed. Census data from the Summary Tape File 3 show that Latinos in South Central are virtually identical to Latinos living in neglected areas outside of South Central and not markedly different from more affluent Latinos in nonneglected areas. Thus Latino participation cannot be explained by virtue of internal composition. This article suggests that Latino participation can be better explained by using a collective behavior approach. The civil disturbance occurred in two distinct phases. The arson phase was a classic replay of the long, hot summers of the mid 1960s and showed elements of the solidaristic and expressive behavior so common to that period and did not have any noticeable Latino participation. The generalized looting phase, which did include noticeable Latino involvement, was individualistic and instrumental, akin to looting that often takes place in the case of a natural disaster. In conclusion, it is noted that collective behavior can be quite useful in understanding Latino collective behavior, fads, taste, and public opinion formation.