“Researchers have known for decades that there are two primary types of people who perpetrate violence. The first is the small fraction who are independently motivated to commit violent acts. The second, and much larger group, are those who commit violence to seek approval and status from others. This is especially true among men who use violence to affirm their masculinity.

Research on gender is particularly relevant for understanding ICE, which has an overwhelmingly male workforce and uses messages of masculinity and domination in its recruitment materials. A lot of men may be joining ICE because they think it will allow them to bond with other men and gain power in our society.

But the conditions required for that to escalate into public violence are extremely specific.

Gang rape is a clear example. Studies show that most perpetrators are unlikely to be sexually violent in other settings. They aren’t individually motivated to commit sexual assault, but they are willing to participate in violence if it means they can deepen their social bonds with the other men present or gain access to an elite organization like a fraternity. Researchers find the same thing is true of sexual harassment. The majority of sexual harassment takes places without the victim’s knowledge in private conversations between men trying to impress one another and gain power in their workplace.

To put it another way, the vast majority of men are only willing to engage in public violence if they feel like the people around them will approve of — and reward them for — that violence.

ICE Watch works because it surrounds men seeking approval with people loudly expressing their disapproval. And the noise has the added benefit of drawing large crowds of bystanders who can quickly outnumber the ICE agents, who then have to decide if they want to escalate a situation or perhaps abandon their activity altogether.”