Following the Rules

Do you follow rules?  If no, why not? Because you think you know better? Because you think the rules do not apply to you? Because the gains of doing your own thing are greater than the potential loss if you get caught for breaking the rules? For the thrill of knowing you are breaking the rules?

Why do people follow the rules?  Some people follow the rules because they are the rules.  People understand that the rules are there to protect the vast majority, impose order, and keep social contracts in line.

Some people follow the rules because they are concerned about the consequences if they get caught.  So, if they think that there is an opportunity to break the rules, to their advantage, without getting caught, they are very apt to break the rules.

Some people follow the rules because they are under oversight and know that if they do not follow the rules, they will be caught. But, if they are not under oversight, they may or may not follow the rules, based on what gains they see for themselves.

But the consequences for not following the rules are not always imposed consistently.  If you are a model citizen, and especially if the infraction is slight, you may not suffer consequences. Or the consequences may be slight.

If you have a reputation for breaking the rules, and someone will be suspected, it will be the rule breaker first. And, the rule breaker, with a record, will be scrutinized more closely, and expected to comply more strictly that someone with a good reputation.

I remember a poem from my youth:  "Your future lies before you, Like a shining path of snow, No matter how you tread, Every step will show."

When we are young, the lesson of that poem is frequently lost on us.  But as we grow older and wiser, that lesson comes home to roost more and more often.

It is just simpler to follow the rules.

It Feels Like Justice, but It's Against the Law

My title is a paraphrase of a comment in the book Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker http://www.brunochiefofpolice.com/ .

It is an idea that I can use in my daily life.  I work in a psychiatric prison, and one of the problems I consistently deal with has to do with behavior and respect.  When patients perceive, rightly or wrongly, that they are being disrespected by the correctional officers (or anyone else), they frequently exponentially raise the anti and exhibit behaviors that are out of context or proportion with whatever slight they perceive.  They think that they are justified in retaliation at any cost.  They feel like they are justified in whatever behaviors they choose to engage, since they were slighted.

Most of us will agree that two wrongs do not make a right...

Many of us do not think about why we follow the rules that we follow, yet this comment brings us there.  Some follow rules because they are the rules, and that is they way it should be.   Some follow the rules because they have no idea about doing anything different. Some follow the rules because they are concerned about the consequences if they do not follow the rules. Some follow the rules because their religious ideals would not allow it any other way...

So, let us thing about why people follow the rules.

Following the rules because that is the way it should be is very pro-social.  Whether or not there are consequences, the rule demands to be followed.  Whether anyone knows or not. Do right, because it is the right thing to do... It takes a lot of decision making out of behavior. 

But, if someone is disturbed by the rule, but feels obligated to follow it, they may also feel obligated to lobby to change the rule. A pro-social activity or a rebellion. Depending on so much, including the extent to which someone is willing to defy authority vs working within the system to get things changed.

Some follow the rules because they have no idea about doing anything different. This is rote rule following, and is okay, as long as the rules are good.  But this kind of rote rule following, which sometimes occurs in military or para-military environments, can lead to inappropriate behaviors (war crimes, for example.)

Some follow the rules because they are concerned about the consequences if they do not follow the rules. These are the people who think that the rules do not necessarily apply to them.  But they follow the rules, because they do not want bad things to happen to them.  But, what happens if they think no one is watching?  They have little compunction about breaking the rules.  So they do...

Some follow the rules because their religious ideals would not allow it any other way... This may be the trickiest of the reasons for following the rules.  Religious ideals can be healthy, wholesome, just, and reasonable, or they can become very fanatical, unreasonable, myopic.  We have seen some very prominent religious leaders who have strayed from religious values, succumbing to their own egos and beliefs that they were above the law...

So following the rules might be very important.  We may not like the rules, but they keep us in check, and keep us from using vigilante justice.  Sometimes, vigilante justice might feel like justice, but it is not the law.... And, we have to follow the law.