Political Orientation and Riot Participation

The relationship between political trust, political efficacy and riot participation is analyzed in a survey of 237 black males in Newark, New Jersey. Self-reported riot participants are more likely to be found among the dissident-those high on political efficacy but low on political trust, rather than among the alienated-those who are both distrustful and ignorant of government. When compared to civil rights activists and voters, rioters are similar in their generally higher levels of political information but lower in trust of the government. Rioting appears to be a disorganized form of political protest rather than an act of personal frustration, or social isolation, as has been suggested in some past research.