Airport Security: An Ethnographic Study

This research, employing a behavioral science perspective of airport security, examinesactual security related decision behaviors through exploratory ethnographic observations. Thisobjective is aimed at providing the basis for describing the degree that formalistic rule and proceduresor informal social network interactions play a role in security decisions. Sampling employees from abroad spectrum of departments and occupations in several major airports across Europe, over sevenhundred (700) descriptive items gleaned from observations transcribed into story scripts wereanalyzed and categorized. The results clearly demonstrate that both formal (rule oriented) andinformal (social context) behavioral formats are present when security decisions are made. Therepetitive patterns of behavior allowed us to suggest a generic model that could then be applied to awide range of security related situations applicable for both security and non-security employees.What these descriptions clearly suggest is that even within the formal regulatory administrativeframework of airports, actual real-time security behaviors may deviate from rules and regulations toadapt to local situational contexts