Malcolm Gladwell, "The Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise
and Fall of New York City Crime"
Questions for Making Connections Within the Reading:
1. "The Power of Context" is one of the middle chapters in Malcolm Gladwell's
book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
In "The Power of Context," Gladwell refers to the three principles of
that govern what he calls "the epidemic transmission" of an idea: The
Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. He provides
thumbnail sketches of the first two principles in this chapter, along
with an elaboration of the Power of Context. What is "the law of the few"?
What is "the stickiness factor"? How much can you piece together about
the first two principles from what Gladwell presents in "The Power of
Context"?
2. Gladwell states that the "Broken Windows theory and the Power of Context
are one and the same." What is the "Broken Windows theory" of crime? How
would one go about testing this theory? What other theories are available
to explain the cause of crime? Does it matter which theory one accepts?
3. Why is it a mistake to think of "character as something unified and
all-encompassing"? If we accept the alternative, namely, that character
is fragmented and situation-specific, what follows? How is this meant
to change one's understanding of criminals and their behavior? Of law-abiding
citizens and their behavior?
Questions for Writing:
1. Toward the end of "The Power of Context," Gladwell asserts that his
discussion of the relationship between criminal activity and local context
has implications that "are enormous." Gladwell leaves it to his readers
to spell out these implications. How would our social structure, our criminal
system, our modes of education have to change if we abandoned what Gladwell
terms "the old understanding" of how to handle crime, which invariably
involved heightened "defensive measures"?
2. Gladwell argues that "small changes in context" can play a major role
in determining whether an idea takes off or disappears without a trace.
This fact, he goes on, "appears to violate some of our most deeply held
assumptions about human nature." What does "human nature" mean, if one
accepts the argument Gladwell makes in "The Power of Context"? Is it possible
to create any form of human behavior just by manipulating the contextual
background? Does Gladwell's view suggest that humans are freer than previously
thought or that their behavior is more fully determined than previously
thought possible?
Questions for Making Connections Between Readings:
1. "Down with Dualism" concludes with Frans de Waal's assertion "that
distress at the sight of another's pain is an impulse over which we exert
no control." Is compassion an intrinsic part of humans or is it subject
to the "power of context" that Gladwell has described? Does Gladwell's
discussion of human character reinforce de Waal's argument about human
evolution, or does it call that argument into question? Does sensitivity
to context have any necessary selective value for the evolution of the
species?
2. In "The Naked Citadel," Susan Faludi provides a rich description of
how lives are lived in an alternate social structure--the military academy.
Does Malcolm Gladwell's account help to explain why Shannon Faulkner wasn't
welcomed into the academy? Did Faulkner's appearance cause the academy
to "tip"? Does Gladwell's theory have any predictive value? That is, could
it tell us, ahead of time, whether the academy would be transformed by
being required to admit women?
More Gladwell
assignments . . .
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