Erwin Goffman's book Behavior in Public Places is a sociological study of the mechanisms underlying the social and moral norms that people follow in everyday interactions. Drawing on examples from his studies of mental hospitals and Shetland Islanders, etiquette manuals, newspaper columns, fiction, memoirs, and personal experience, Goffman shows that human social behavior is a situational activity that takes place in assemblages (groups of participants present together). and involves managing your involvement in what is happening. The book is a classic work in the field of interactional sociology, which has had a significant influence on contemporary sociological theory and research.