Authority Without Responsibility
In 1971 a psychology experiment that has become known as the Stanford Prison Experiment had to be abandoned early because the subject selected as "guards" became abusive of the subjects selected as "prisoners".
My take-away from the Stanford Prison Experiment is that people given authority over others without accountability or responsibility will always abuse those under their authority.
Since 9/11, a real-world Stanford Prison Experiment has played out in the world's airports. For the most part, the screeners are recruited from a different population than aircrew, airport professionals and the traveling public - so they are already primed with an us-versus-them mentality that accelerates their descent into abuse.
Until and unless screeners are subjected to severe consequences for abusing crew, staff and passengers, I do not see how the situation can get better.
I wish I had a better solution. For now, I fly as infrequently as I can. That's a solution for me as a retired aviation professional, but dosen't work for working professionals.
I can promise you that if a flight I am scheduled on is cancelled due to crew stress caused by screener abuse, I will place the blame where it belongs - on the TSA thugs.
Last edited by twb3; 6th Jul 2012 at 00:40.