Editing Breaching experiment (section)

== Erving Goffman on social interaction ==
Goffman published two seminal works related to this domain: ''Behavior in Public Places'' in 1963 and ''Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order,'' published in 1971. Goffman draws on his earlier studies of individuals in [[Psychiatric hospital|mental asylums]], as well as other stigmatized social groups, in order to highlight the often taken-for-granted rules of social interaction, as well as the results when rules are broken. He argues that the most common rule in all social situations is for the individual to "fit in".<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Goffman|first=Erving|title=Behavior in Public Places|url=https://archive.org/details/behaviorinpublic00goff|url-access=registration|year=1963|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0029119402}}</ref> He defines norms as a kind of guide for action supported by [[Social control|social sanctions]] or reactions, in that there are penalties for infraction, or breaking norms, while individuals are generally rewarded for compliance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Goffman|first=Erving|title=Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order|url=https://archive.org/details/relationsinpubli00ervi|url-access=registration|year=1971|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-1412810067|page=[https://archive.org/details/relationsinpubli00ervi/page/95 95]}}</ref> If an individual breaches a social norm, the act is often attributed to some property of the individual, such as that the person is sick or mentally ill. For example, a person who is observed talking to himself in a public place is assumed to be [[Mental disorder|mentally ill]] by any strangers who may notice.

Goffman further states that social gatherings have significant importance for organizing social life. He argues that all people in a social setting have some concern regarding the rules governing behavior. Infractions, or violation of an unstated rule, may be "taken as a sign that the offender cannot be trusted" not to take advantage of the situation "even though the original infraction itself" may actually be harmless.  Individuals come to "feel that rules for participating in gatherings are crucial for society’s well-being" and that these "rules are natural, inviolable, and fundamentally right".<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=235}}