Name:

Waleed Habib

Sap Id:
70112437

Section:
A

Assignment:
#4

Submitted to:
Sir Shaghil Baqa
 Assignment - Paraphrase chapters of Talking to Strangers Book
Book name “Talking to Strangers” author Malcolm Gladwell
(Chapter 9)
“KSM: What Happened When the stranger is a Terrorist?”
After 9/11, psychologist James Mitchell joined the CIA to interrogate terrorists, starting with
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). Initially uncooperative, KSM resisted both friendly and
uncomfortable methods. Mitchell and his colleague used controversial "enhanced interrogation
techniques" (EITs) on KSM, prompting ethical concerns. Gladwell sees this as an extreme case
of the challenge in understanding strangers, especially when dealing with terrorists determined to
keep secrets.
Before working for the CIA, psychologists Mitchell and Jessen were part of the Air Force's
SERE program, training soldiers on dealing with capture scenarios. Mitchell, in charge of SERE,
participated in exercises, including one with a woman where they faced simulated threats. In a
drill, Mitchell was sealed in a drum filled with water up to his nose, a standard training element
in SERE.
Mitchell and Jessen, using SERE program methods, created the CIA's "Enhanced Interrogation"
program. Waterboarding, wailing, and sleep deprivation were considered effective techniques.
Waterboarding involves tilting a gurney, placing a cloth over the face, and pouring water,
simulating drowning. They aimed for detainee compliance, and with KSM, it took three weeks of
intense techniques to get him to talk.
A psychiatrist named Charles Morgan studied PTSD in veterans at a SERE school. Soldiers
reacted strongly to pretend interrogations, affecting their memory and facial recognition. The
trauma caused their prefrontal cortex to shut down, impacting their ability to share reliable
information. Morgan, concerned about misleading details, warned against methods like Mitchell
and Jessen's in stressful circumstances.
KSM confessed to numerous terrorist operations, but doubts arose about the truth of his
statements. The effects of torture on his objectivity were considered. The chapter ends with
Gladwell reflecting on the complexity of learning the truth from strangers and the importance of
caution and humility in such situations.
 (Chapter 10)
“Sylvia Plath”
In 1962, poet Sylvia Plath moved to London after her husband left her. She wrote poetry, but her
depression returned, and she died by suicide in early 1963.
Gladwell suggests that poets have a higher risk of suicide, and Sylvia Plath's circumstances, like
a prior attempt and living abroad, increased her risk. There's uncertainty about whether she
intended to die when using the gas oven, with some clues suggesting a desire to be rescued and
others indicating a clear intention to die.
Gladwell looks at suicide rates connected to the use of town gas in England. When town gas was
phased out, suicide rates dropped. He explores whether suicide is a coupled behavior tied to
specific means or a displaced behavior where people find alternative methods. Evidence, like the
Golden Gate Bridge suicides, supports suicide as a coupled behavior linked to specific
circumstances. The delayed construction of a suicide barrier suggests society's failure to see
suicide this way. Overall, we often don't understand the context in which strangers operate,
leading to mistakes in addressing complex issues.
A long time ago, Brooklyn's 72nd Precinct had a lot of crime. A criminologist, David Weisburd,
studied the area and found that most crimes happened on just one or two streets. This was strange
because he thought criminals, like Dracula, would go wherever they wanted to commit crimes.
This made him rethink his ideas about why crime happens.
After leaving Brooklyn, criminologist David Weisburd teamed up with Larry Sherman to study
crime in Minneapolis. They found that only a small percentage of streets, around 3.3%, were
responsible for half of all police calls. Similar results were found in other cities. Gladwell thinks
this shows that where and when we interact with strangers influences how we perceive them. For
example, when Sylvia Plath died by suicide in 1963, suicide rates among women her age in
England were very high. But as town gas was phased out, the rates dropped by half. So, Gladwell
says Plath was "really unlucky" to face such high rates during her time.
In 1958, Sylvia Plath worked in a psychiatric ward in Boston, where she befriended Anne
Sexton, a poet obsessed with death. Sexton later died by suicide. Gladwell explores their deaths,
highlighting that their personalities and mental health histories only partially explain why they
chose to die on specific days. He argues that Plath was defined by her suffering rather than her
full self. Shifting to a criminologist's map of Jersey City, Gladwell discusses sex workers
anchored to specific areas, finding predictability and trust in familiar places. He relates this to
Sexton's suicide methods, suggesting an ambivalence toward dying. Gladwell emphasizes the
importance of understanding a stranger's world before making conclusions.
(Chapter 11)
“Case Study, The Kansas City Experiments”
A long time ago, O.W. Wilson came up with the idea that having police cars always patrolling
could reduce crime. In the 1970s, Kansas City tested this theory. They split the city into three
groups: one with normal policing, one with no patrol, and one with extra patrols. The experiment
lasted a year, and the result was surprising. Crime rates were almost the same in all three groups,
and people in the area with extra patrols didn't feel safer. This made police rethink how to reduce
crime, especially during a time when crime was increasing. Later, Kansas City tried a different
experiment in 1990 when their homicide rates were very high.
Lawrence Sherman aimed to tackle gun-related crime in Kansas City. He had teams visit the
city's most violent area, educating residents about gun violence and offering an anonymous
hotline to report it. Despite people liking the program, it didn't work. The problem wasn't that
residents didn't want help; it was that they were scared to leave their homes, making it hard to
know who had guns. They then tried training officers to spot concealed weapons based on a
theory, but that also failed.
Kansas City found a way to reduce gun crimes using a legal loophole. The Fourth Amendment
protects citizens from unreasonable searches, but it has fewer protections for motorists. So,
Kansas City increased traffic stops, using them as a chance to search vehicles for weapons. This
strategy cut gun crimes in half within District 144. The success led many police departments
nationwide to adopt this approach.
Gladwell discusses Lawrence Sherman, who, along with David Weisburd, studied crime
concentration. They found that focusing police efforts on specific crime hot spots is more
effective than spreading them thinly. The Kansas City experiment showed this. However, many
cities didn't fully embrace this idea, leading to less effective policing. Gladwell ties this to the
misunderstandings of coupling, where a person's behavior is closely linked to the place and
context.
 (Chapter 12)
“Sandra Bland”
Sandra Bland gets pulled over by Brian Encinia, a police officer. The situation starts calmly but
escalates when Encinia insists on Bland putting out her cigarette. They argue, and Encinia orders
her out of the car, leading to a struggle and Bland's arrest. The confrontation continues, and later
Bland dies by suicide in jail. Encinia is fired for violating police guidelines on courtesy and
patience. Gladwell believes the issue goes beyond Encinia being a bully.
Gladwell discusses Kansas City-style policing, where officers use minor traffic infractions as a
pretext to search for more serious crimes like guns and drugs. He highlights the low success rate
of airport security checks due to a tendency to trust that suspicious items are harmless. He
introduces Charles Remsberg's tactics for criminal patrol, emphasizing the need for officers to be
proactive and stop various vehicles to avoid bias accusations. Gladwell applies these concepts to
Brian Encinia's traffic stops, indicating the focus on minor infractions and suspicion.
Encinia stops Sandra Bland and perceives her as a threat based on her behavior, following the
belief in transparency in law enforcement training. Encinia's training leads him to think Bland
may have a gun, and he becomes concerned for his safety. Gladwell argues that this thinking is
flawed, especially when applied to people like Bland, who are in crisis. Encinia misreads Bland's
desperation as malice. Despite claims of Encinia being indifferent, Gladwell suggests he
misinterpreted the situation due to his training, not lack of empathy.
In Ferguson, Missouri, a white officer shot a black man named Michael Brown, sparking
protests. The U.S. Department of Justice found issues with the police's aggressive stop practices.
Gladwell questions the effectiveness of such stops, citing low success rates in finding
contraband. He wonders if it's worth alienating many innocent people to find a few wrongdoers.
The question arises: was Encinia, in Bland's case, in the right place for such policing?
In Prairie View, Texas, where Bland was stopped, Encinia falsely claimed it was a high-crime
area. Records don't support his past arrests there. Gladwell suggests Encinia's training assumed
the worst in people. The disconnect between crime and place may have led to the mismatched
patrol assignment. In the end, when interactions with strangers go wrong due to
misunderstanding, blame tends to fall on the stranger.