11 Feb 1997Soc 313Film Review 2Disaster at HillsboroughSummaryThe movie 'Disaster at Hillsborough' showed the complexity of a stampede.From the build-up of people outside the gate, to the disaster that ended in the death of 95people.The film started out outside the stadium where 95 people died at a soccer game.The stadium was not equipped for the masses of people to show up all at the same place atthe same time. According to the officer interviewed there was no plan in case of anemergency and no problems anticipated. The atmosphere outside the gates was pleasantand people were looking forward to a good game. The stampede started when the peoplein the rear realized that the game was to start before they were going to get in. Thestampede could possibly been averted ...view middle of the document...
People in the rear were in an acquisitive panic andthe people in the front who were getting crushed were in a fearful panic. The emergencygates would open but the police, not realizing the situation, kept people in and closed thegates.CritiqueThis example could not be anymore perfect to show a stampede and panic. Allfour components were met. (1) Partial entrapment; the reality is complete entrapment.As at the Who concert the only avenue of escape was blocked by the police. (2)Perceived threat; this comes from both ends of the panic. The people at the rear werethreatened by the fact that they would miss the kickoff of the game or even not be able toget into the game. The people at the front were facing the threat of being crushed. (3)The partial breakdown of escape routs is obvious from the front. The gates to get outwere blocked by the police and there was a high fence blocking everyone on all sidesexcept the tunnel which was blocked by people trying to get into the pens. (4) Front torear communications breakdown occurred when the people at the fence realized thesituation and could not communicate it to the people at the rear to keep the people fromcrowding up the tunnel. The biggest thing that caused this disaster was the failure ofcontrol by police and the communication breakdown.Personal ReflectionI see a correlation between this stampede and the riot in L.A. in that the leadershipfailed. The chief at Hillsborough froze and lost his capacity to control the situation. InL.A. the chief also lost his capacity of control. In both situations there was no plans foremergency procedures. In L.A. the police were undertrained and in Hillsborough therewas just no plan in case something went wrong. The saddest part about these disasters isthat they could possibly been prevented
