orcement actions that sent a "truth" that included "an unambiguous message to vandals...you are going to jail" (Gladwell 183). This is similar to De Waal's belief that primates have a culture and learn from observation. De Waal (683) maintains that dominant primates have proven to send a public transcript when he discusses his "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" argument. However, in this "truth," devoid of human motives, everyone stands to gain from the exchange.
In order for public transcripts to be effective, there are certain requirements these constructions of "truth" must embody. One of these is that the public transcript must be sufficiently believable to the dominant group in society to be effective. As Scott (523) notes, "to the degree that the dominant will suspect that the public transcript may be 'only' a performance, they will discount its authenticity." Subordinate groups offer a performance of consent and subordination, but they continually monitor the real intentions or mood of dominant groups. Gladwell's explanation of how context shapes behavior fits neatly into this aspect of public transcripts, because citizens perform like they obey the law but they only began to do so in New York City when they saw the real intentions of the power-holders was to severely punish any
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