Strategic Observers in the City: How They See and What They Do

在公共场所工作的人如何感知危险并采取行动？为了回答这个问题，本项目将对纽约市四种不同工作类型的地铁工人进行深入的实地观察和密集的访谈。这个项目的目标是(1)确定人们如何定义危险情况(2)他们采取什么行动来应对危险(3)以及他们选择依靠哪些个人和团体来处理危险。本研究还将考察组织规则和实践以及官方反应如何影响员工对危险的理解和反应。几十年来，学者们一直在研究不同的个人和团体如何通过建立非正式的团体和网络来监控公共场所，从而将危险降到最低，并促进安全。今天，随着城市恐怖主义和社区犯罪的威胁成为人们日常关注的问题，这些问题具有全国性的重要性。该项目将使用视频、摄影和其他方法来加强实地观察和采访。该项目作为定性检验具有智力价值，它将说明组织规则和实践以及个人策略如何能够鼓励对危险的不同反应。这项研究在政策层面和发展观察理论方面具有更广泛的影响。在政策层面，本研究的结果可以帮助决策者制定战略，以确定和理解人民的监测和观察工作，以创造安全和减轻危险。对人的观察工作进行系统的研究，可以从理论上和分析上深入了解人们为自己和周围人的安全采取各种预防措施的方式。这项研究的结果将通过网站发布、向决策者和民选官员简报、公开演讲和学术期刊等方式传播。

How do people working in public settings perceive and act on danger? To answer this question, this project will conduct in-depth field observations and intensive interviews with New York City subway workers across four different job types. The goals of this project are to (1) identify how people define dangerous situations (2) what actions they take in response to danger (3) and which individuals and groups they choose to rely on for assistance in dealing with danger. This research will also examine how organizational rules and practices, and official responses shape workers understandings of and reactions to danger. For decades, scholars have studied how different individuals and groups can minimize danger and promote security by creating informal groups and networks to monitor public settings. Today, these issues take on national importance as threats of urban terror and neighborhood crime have become everyday concerns. This project will use video, photography, and other methods to enhance field observations and interviews. The project holds intellectual merit as a qualitative examination that will illustrate how organizational rules and practices, and individual strategies can encourage different responses to danger. The research has broader impacts at the policy level and for developing a theory of watching. At the policy level, the findings of this study can help policymakers develop strategies for identifying and understanding peoples surveillance and observation work in creating security and mitigating danger. The systematic study of peoples observation work can provide theoretical and analytical insight into the diverse ways people take precautions for the safety of themselves and others around them. The findings of this study will be disseminated through website posting, briefings to policy-makers and elected officials, public presentations, and scholarly journals.