Bystander Intervention

Hi Friends!
Welcome to Issue 49 of this newsletter. This week’s topic is Bystander Intervention. An engaged bystander is someone who lives up to that responsibility by intervening before, during, or after a situation when they see or hear behaviors that threaten, harass, or otherwise encourage violence. Bystander Intervention is a social science model that predicts the likelihood of individuals (or groups) willing to actively address a situation they deem problematic. I remember my parents telling me about the Kitty Genovese Case, where a woman was attacked and killed on the street in Queens and 37 people saw it happen, but no one helped her. As a child, my parents always encouraged me to step up and say something. I live my life operating from a place of, “If I don’t say something, who will?” Bystander Intervention does not mean jeopardizing your wellbeing or confronting violence with violence. Let’s get into it!

Key Terms

Bystander: A bystander is anyone who observes a situation. We all observe numerous incidents and interactions daily, but usually do not acknowledge the situation as needing our response. An active bystander is someone who acknowledges a problematic situation and chooses how to respond.

Bystander Intervention: Bystander Intervention is a social science model that predicts the likelihood of individuals (or groups) willing to actively address a situation they deem problematic.

The Bystander Effect: The Bystander effect is a phenomenon in which people are less likely to help someone in an emergency due to the presence of the people (bystanders) around them. The phenomenon of the bystander effect was first explained by two psychologists named John Darley and Bibb Latané in 1968. Darley and Latané proposed that with the increase in the number of people around the person in the emergency, the people become less likely to help the one in need.

The Virtual Bystander Effect: With the rise in the impact of social media on people’s lives, the influence of the bystander effect has also evolved on the digital platform. The social media platforms allow us to get aware of the injustice happening in the nearby or the faraway places. The impact of the bystander effect on social platforms is even more than the real world as one can not see that how other people are physically reacting to the given situation. Examples include the 2017 sexual assault of a teenage girl by a group of five men was Live broadcast on Facebook and a Facebook Live broadcast of a man with a mental disability being tortured by a group of people. In both cases no one alerted the authorities.

Let’s Get Into It

Before diving into how to be a better bystander and what steps to take to safely intervene, we first must understand the Bystander Effect and the overall concept that—odds are— you probably won’t help someone in need if you think it’s someone else’s responsibility to do so. While it’s not always safe to personally intervene, it’s always possible to alert the proper authorities, take to social media to amplify a message, or seek help in some other manner.

The Bystander Effect

• The Bystander Effect does not only affect everyday people. One example is an incident of a 53-year-old resident of Alameda, California named Raymond Zack. Raymond went into the water and when his foster mother called authorities, alerting them that Raymond might be trying to harm himself, both police and fire fighters stood on the beach and did nothing. The police thought the fire department would act. The fire department thought the police would act. After hours, a random civilian went into the water and dragged Raymond out.

• There are various factors that are responsible for the bystander effect:

  • Diffusion of Responsibility: Diffusion of responsibility occurs when a duty or task is shared between a group of people instead of only one person. The moral obligation to help does not fall only on one person, but the whole group that is witnessing the emergency. The blame for not helping can be shared instead of resting on only one person. The belief that another bystander in the group will offer help means you may not feel you have to engage.

  • Evaluation Apprehension: This refers to the fear of being judged by others when acting publicly. Individuals may feel afraid of being superseded by a superior helper, offering unwanted assistance, or facing the legal consequences of offering inferior and possibly dangerous assistance.

  • Pluralistic Ignorance: Due to pluralistic ignorance, people are less likely to help others as almost every person is looking for the other person to act first. Pluralistic ignorance basically means when you look around and see no one else is intervening, you think, “Hmm, I must be wrong to think this is an emergency or I must be getting the wrong social cues here because if no one else is reacting then I too should not react.”

  • Confusion of Responsibility: This occurs when a bystander fears that helping could lead others’ to believing that they are the perpetrator. This fear can cause people to not act in dire situations.

Latané and Darley (1970) proposed a five-step decision model of helping, during each of which bystanders can decide to do nothing:

1. Notice the event (or in a hurry and not notice).

2. Interpret the situation as an emergency (or assume that as others are not acting, it is not an emergency).

3. Assume responsibility (or assume that others will do this).

4. Know what to do (or not have the skills necessary to help).

5. Decide to help (or worry about danger, legislation, embarrassment, etc.).

Real Life Examples Of The Bystander Effect

• Honestly, these examples were deeply disturbing. These examples are extremely useful because we like to think, “I would never do that, I would definitely step up and say something” — but studies show, the larger the group, the slower you will be to respond and the less responsible you will feel to act. These examples deal with everything from sexual assault to murder and how these victims were attacked with many bystanders around including teachers, principles, law enforcement, friends and classmates, without receiving any help.

How To Safely Intervene

When I was a little kid my mom would tell me over and over that if I was in danger I needed to drop all of my belongings (my backpack, my books, my toys) and run for safety. Practicing this prepared me to understand that if I was being chased or abducted or trying to flee an unsafe environment, the weight of my heavy backpack might slow me down. In the same way, we must prime ourselves to understand that if we see someone in danger, we are expectant and prepared to take action.

Before stepping in, try the ABC approach:

• Assess for safety: If you see someone in trouble, ask yourself if you can help safely in any way. Remember, your personal safety is a priority – never put yourself at risk.

• Be in a group: It’s safer to call out behaviour or intervene in a group. If this is not an option, report it to others who can act.

• Care for the victim:Talk to the person who you think may need help. Ask them if they are OK.

When it comes to intervening safely, remember the four Ds – direct, distract, delegate, delay. These don’t have to be done in any specific order so consider what might be best in the situation!

Watch this three minute video on the four Ds

• Direct action: This is the most direct and risky interaction. Call out negative behaviour, tell the person to stop or ask the victim if they are OK. Do this as a group if you can. Be polite. Don’t aggravate the situation - remain calm and state why something has offended you. Stick to exactly what has happened, don’t exaggerate.

• Distract: Interrupt, start a conversation with the perpetrator to allow their potential target to move away or have friends intervene. Or come up with an idea to get the victim out of the situation – tell them they need to take a call, or you need to speak to them; any excuse to get them away to safety. Alternatively, try distracting, or redirecting the situation.

• Delegate: If you are too embarrassed or shy to speak out, or you don’t feel safe to do so, get someone else to step in. Any decent venue has a zero tolerance policy on harassment, so the staff there will act. Remember, calling the authorities might not be the best option. Marginalized communities like communities of color and trans communities might not feel safer with law enforcement present.

• Delay: If the situation is too dangerous to challenge then and there (such as there is the threat of violence or you are outnumbered) just walk away. Wait for the situation to pass then ask the victim later if they are OK. Or report it when it’s safe to do so – it’s never too late to act.

Intervening in a potential life or death situation can be terrifying. It can also be disturbingly calm, imagining nothing is wrong because everyone else is acting like nothing is wrong. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally to intervene in a way that is safe, non violent, and thoughtful. Don’t follow the crowd. Be the one that wakes up the group and urges them that there is danger. As always, live life with purpose. “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, we are the change we seek.” See ya next time!

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, we are the change we seek” — With love and light, Taylor Rae