A/HRC/17/28* the drastic reduction in the use of force, after police officers had been issued body-length shields and fireproof overalls. E. Socio-legal approaches to protecting the right to life in the context of assemblies: evolving understanding of crowd behaviour 105. Psychologists, sociologists, criminologists and others, such as urban planners, have produced a constant flow of new knowledge on policing and crowd behaviour, which must be taken into account if the dynamics at work are to be properly understood. New technologies also become available continually, affecting the nature of public demonstrations and subsequent accountability. 106. Our understanding of the social and psychological forces at work during mass demonstrations has grown over the years. 40 Taking cognisance of this body of knowledge can provide an understanding of the phenomenon, and better inform decisions on the management of protest and the use of force. 107. When joining a group, individual identity is supplemented by social identity. While some of the greatest achievements of humankind have been attained by group power, membership in a group may also lead to de-individuation; anti-normative behaviour is released and “group” thinking occurs. Group membership can lead to feelings of reduced individual responsibility, diminished respect for authority, and a lack of fear of danger. 108. According to the “classical view,” crowds are best understood as irrational, monolithic units that are dangerous and prone to violence. Starting from this premise, a public-order policing style of “escalated force” was followed in most Western countries until the 1960s. Even minor forms of transgression were harshly dealt with in order to affirm a culture of law and order. 109. This approach gave way, in the mid- 1970s and 1980s, to a philosophy of “negotiated management.” Following debilitating clashes between demonstrators and police in the 1960s, those who had to do public-order policing came to the conclusion that it would be more productive, where possible, to work with crowds, rather than against them. Under this approach, the task of the police is to protect rights and to facilitate, rather than frustrate, demonstrations. Some community disruption by protesters is tolerated, and force is used only where violence occurs, and then only in moderation. 110. This milder approach represents a shift towards a more active use of communication, negotiation, cooperation, information gathering and emphasis on preventive police policies. The new approach regarded stereotypes associated with the classical understanding of crowd behaviour as wrong and potentially dangerous, because the police could misunderstand the situation and use excessive force, which could escalate the conflict. 111. Under the negotiated management approach, groups are different from individuals – the whole, indeed, does not equal the sum of the parts – but they do not necessarily act in a random, incomprehensible way. Groups react according to their own logic, to a number of external influences, including how they are treated by the authorities. In short, if a crowd is treated like an irrational group of criminals who only understand the language of force, that is how they will behave. 40 See Donatella della Porta and Herbert Reiter, eds., Policing Protest: The control of mass demonstrations in Western democracies (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1998), and David Waddington, Policing Public Disorder: Theory and practice (Devon, Willan Publishing, 2007). 17