What Every BODY Is Saying by Joe Navarro & Marvin Karlins

Author:Joe Navarro & Marvin Karlins
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Motivational & Inspirational, Psychology, General, Business & Economics, Self-Help, Careers, Personality
ISBN: 9780061755668
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: 2009-10-12T23:00:00+00:00

Fig. 40 Arms akimbo is a powerful territorial display that can be used to establish dominance or to communicate that there are “issues.”

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BOX 31: THE WRONG ARMS OF THE LAW

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People who question the power of nonverbals to affect the behaviors of others might want to consider what happens when police use the arms-akimbo display at the wrong times. There are situations when using it can not only destroy police officers’ effectiveness, but also endanger their lives.

Subconsciously, arms akimbo is a powerful display of authority and dominance, as well as a claim to territory. During a domestic dispute, if a police officer performs this display, it tends to exacerbate the feelings of those in the house and may escalate the situation. This is particularly true if the officer exhibits this posture in a doorway, blocking the exit of the homeowners. Territorial displays such as arms akimbo arouse passions, since “every man’s home is his castle,” and no “king” wants an outsider controlling his space.

Another potentially dangerous situation relating to the use of the arms-akimbo display involves young police officers who are taken off of their regular patrol duties to work undercover. When these undercover neophytes enter an establishment for the first time, such as a bar they are attempting to infiltrate, they may stand with arms akimbo. While this is something they are accustomed to doing, they have not earned the right to engage in such an authoritarian or territorial display among those they don’t know. They advertise inadvertently that they are cops or the heat. Interviews with numerous criminals have revealed that this territorial arm display is one of the things they look for in trying to make (identify) undercover officers. Except for those in authority, most civilians rarely stand with arms akimbo. I always remind training officers and supervisors to be aware of this and make sure that undercover officers are broken of this habit so they do not give away who they are and place their lives in peril.

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