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Terms
Coupling Theory is the idea that certain behaviors are “coupled,” or linked, with a particular set of circumstances. Gladwell introduces Coupling Theory in Chapter Ten in his analysis of Sylvia Plath’s suicide and suicide trends in the United States, England, and Wales across the 20th century. Drawing on research conducted by criminologist Ronald Clarke, Gladwell shows that suicide rates between World War I and the late 1970s correspond with the use of “town gas” (gas that contains high levels of deadly carbon monoxide) in household appliances. Suicide rates increased after town gas was introduced after World War II and decreased as London phased out town gas in favor of natural gas, which contains considerably less carbon monoxide. This suggests that suicide is linked with access to poisonous carbon monoxide gas. Gladwell later applies coupling theory to his analysis of the Kansas City experiments in preventative patrolling.
Coupling Theory Quotes in Talking to Strangers
The Talking to Strangers quotes below are all either spoken by Coupling Theory or refer to Coupling Theory. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Like suicide, crime is tied to very specific places and contexts. Weisburd’s experiences in the 72nd Precinct and in Minneapolis are not idiosyncratic. They capture something close to a fundamental truth about human behavior. And that means that when you confront the stranger, you have to ask yourself where and when you’re confronting the stranger—because those two things powerfully influence your interpretation of who the stranger is.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Don’t look at the stranger and jump to conclusions. Look at the stranger’s world.
Chapter 11
Quotes
There is something about the idea of coupling—of the notion that a stranger’s behavior is tightly connected to place and context—that eludes us. It leads us to misunderstand some of our greatest poets, to be indifferent to the suicidal, and to send police officers on senseless errands. So what happens when a police officer carries that fundamental misconception—and then you add to that the problems of default to truth and transparency? You get Sandra Bland.
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Coupling Theory Term Timeline in Talking to Strangers
The timeline below shows where the term Coupling Theory appears in Talking to Strangers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Ten: Sylvia Plath
The second possibility—“that suicide is a behavior coupled to a particular context”—suggests that the act of suicide is tied to circumstance. To illustrate...
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If suicide is a coupled behavior, then it’s not merely something that depressed people do: it’s something depressed people do...
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Criminologist Ronald Clarke argues in favor of suicide as a coupled behavior. In a 1988 essay, he describes how the painlessness and ease of access of...
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...offers the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as further evidence of suicide as a coupled behavior. Since its completion in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge has been the site of...
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...around the bridge. Gladwell attributes this delay to society’s unwillingness to see suicide as a coupled behavior. As evidence, Gladwell cites a national survey that found that 75 percent of Americans...
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...pass by might believe the women “do not have long to live,” the principles of coupling theory encourage us to take the opposite approach: States Gladwell, “Don’t look at the stranger...
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Chapter Eleven: Case Study: The Kansas City Experiments
...chapter. While these three men’s interests vary, all three are alike in their focus on coupling. To Gladwell, coupling’s relevance within law enforcement is simple: it means that cities don’t need...
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Gladwell attributes law enforcement’s unwillingness to practice concentrated policing on humanity’s misconceptions about coupling, or “the notion that a stranger’s behavior is tightly connected to place and context.” Furthermore,...
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