Negative Atmospherics
Negative Atmospherics is the sense that a person has about a situation or place that makes them feel threatened. The feeling that an area is threatening and unsafe will often be assessed intuitively from the collective mood, emotions and behavior of everyone present. This will likely be the first thing determined upon entering a new place, only after this initial assessment is completed should a person analyze the sub-components (below) that led to that decision.
Using The Profiling Domains
Individual Behavior (Kinesics and Biometrics)
- Higher intensity of Dominant, Uncomfortable, or Submissive behavior.
- Threat response behaviors (those clusters above) are the baseline, not comfortable
Groups Of People (Proxemics)
- Groups closed off, not generally open to outsiders
- Could be “anomaly” relationships
Environment (Geographics and Iconography)
- Likely an Anchor Point. If the area feels negative and some groups of people do not feel welcome and choose to avoid that area or situation and are Proxemically Pushed away.
- Negative Iconography (belief messages)
- Gang Iconography (affiliation messages) showing who is welcome and who is not
Using Other Indicators
Noise Level
- If area is loud, it has an argumentative, confrontational, and hostile tone
- If area is quiet, it is a forced quiet out of fear, submissiveness, or discomfort
Activity Level
- Either high or low activity level, but comparison to baseline is required
- Effects of crowding can easily transition a group into a negative, disorderly, hostile manner
Order/Disorder
- Area not taken care of, streets and buildings are dirty, unkempt
- Bars over windows showing people require a greater degree of security
- Many “broken windows” showing that the people don’t take care of their area
- Rule of law disobeyed, both minor and major crimes.
- Groups don’t act orderly, likely in a hostile, uncontrolled or chaotic manner
- Overall lack of security