ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to use existing social science knowledge on collective behavior and riots to provide a fuller explanation for the riot. It receives only limited attention because the socioeconomic conditions which acted as a backdrop to the riot are generally well known. The key to a sociological explanation is the state of police-black relations before the riot, for it was a major source of black frustrations and accounts for the presence of a generalized belief that is a necessary ingredient in producing collective action. The Los Angeles riot was the first one in which rioters were able to watch their actions on television. Black business establishments, many of them carrying signs such as ''Blood Brother'' or ''Soul Brother'' were for the most part spared. The chapter considerations about the actions and motivations of the rioters enable one to come closer to a characterization of the Watts Riot Arrests.
