Defiance and Motivational Postures

Motivational postures are the signals that people send to authorities, including criminal justice authorities, to indicate their liking for that authority and their willingness to defer to the authority’s rules and processes. These signals change in response to the actions of authority. Five motivational postures describe the way in which individuals and groups position themselves in relation to authority. The posture of commitment represents belief in the authority, its goals and purpose. The posture of capitulation involves acquiescing to authority because it brings the least trouble. Resistance is a posture of protest and anger about how an authority operates. Disengagement is a posture of withdrawal, of severing the relationship with authority to the point where the authority is irrelevant. Game playing challenges authority by circumventing rules and laws while appearing to do what is expected. These postures are openly shared and co-exist. They combine to form a complex signaling system that authorities can read and respond to in an emotionally intelligent way to form a more effective criminal justice system.