Purpose
This category focuses on failures at the edges of belonging: who is in, under what conditions, and how one can leave.
Failure Pattern
Failures arise when:
- norms are enforced without being declared,
- membership status is ambiguous,
- or exit becomes structurally impossible.
Boundary ambiguity often produces the harshest conflicts.
Structural Risk
When membership rules are implicit:
- enforcement becomes arbitrary,
- conflict becomes personal,
- and trust collapses.
Communities may drift into coercion without intent.
What Is Being Stress-Tested
- Explicit membership criteria
- Rights–obligations symmetry
- Entry, probation, and exit mechanisms
- Scope alignment between purpose and enforcement
RCOS Expectation
RCOS requires that:
- membership is always explicit,
- no one is punished for violating undeclared rules,
- and exit remains possible without undue harm.
This category tests whether belonging is chosen, not trapped.