Group shielding power depends on relative group size, not absolute numbers
Evidence
What constitutes “sufficiently large,” however, will vary depending upon a number of other factors such as the size of other groups also present, the dimensions of the space itself, or the amount of leeway allowed by the setting in what is considered acceptable behavior. … For example, if the others in the setting form a group larger than the one of which the individual is a member, his own group may have little success in shielding him. Thus, I once observed a group of seven military prisoners, handcuffed together in subgroups of two or three, enter an airport terminal, suffering from acute embarrassment and humiliation. Heads were lowered, eyes were averted from others in the setting, faces were pale and strained, despite an obvious attempt to act unconcerned. When their three military guards ordered them to sit, all adjusted their postures so as to blot out any view of the handcuffs from all but the nearest or most attentive observers. While the size of the prisoner group was fairly large, the fact that they were quite obviously prisoners pushed all others in the setting into a group of nonprisoners. The size of the latter group thus greatly exceeded seven. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 821
Categorization
- XREF: The handcuffed-prisoners field observation is a vivid ethnographic data point supporting the reader’s civil-inattention and stranger-categorization thread.
- CANDY: The detail of prisoners adjusting postures to hide handcuffs is a striking, easily-shared image of public-space status management.