Coordinated Community Response Column

We have all been bystanders, or will become future bystanders, who have or will witness an act of violence sometime in our lives.

Bystanders have a range of involvement in most violent assaults. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) completed in the 1990s, bystanders were present in approximately 70 percent of assaults, 52 percent of robberies, and 29 percent of rapes and sexual assaults. Most unsuspecting bystanders have very little power and control over what he or she sees or overhears.

When suddenly thrust into a situation where violence is at hand or has occurred one is faced with the rather difficult task of defining his or her actions. Those actions are determined by the answer that follows the inevitable question: Do I take personal stake in this matter and intervene or remain passive and continue on my way?

The process of an individual mentally deciding whether or not to get involved when observing a violent crime, speaks to the psychological phenomenon known as the “Bystander Effect.” According to the scholarly journal Social Psychology, the bystander effect has been defined as the idea that individuals, when witness to a violent crime, are more likely to help out and intervene when alone as compared to being in a group of people. More interestingly, the greater the number of onlookers to a violent crime the less likely an individual is to step in and help. There is a large community of research and literature dedicated to the greater understanding of what factors compel an individual to take up personal responsibility and intervene.

There are several theoretical explanations that aid in conceptualizing the underpinning of the psychological phenomenon known as the bystander effect. However, there are three specific processes or steps that have been focused primarily in explaining the phenomenon. Those three bystander decisions are the following: noticing, interpretation, and taking responsibility.

The first step that must take place before a bystander makes the personal decision to intervene is noticing. The bystander must become aware there is a violent situation at hand, and then the second step that must occur before the bystander can make a decision to mediate is interpretation. The bystander must interpret the situation as an emergency – not just any emergency, but a crisis that requires the bystander’s immediate intervention. Finally, the bystander must assume the direct responsibility upon him or herself to get involved.

There are many strategies and ways an individual can rise to the occasion and step in as an active bystander when in the midst of a violent crime. Some interventions are more direct, while others are less obvious to the perpetrator. According to SafeHelpline.org, an online sexual assault prevention community, the following are five ways an individual can intervene as an active bystander:

• Make up an excuse to get him or her out of a potentially dangerous situation

• Letting a friend or co-worker know that his or her actions may lead to serious consequences

• Never leaving his or her side, despite the efforts of someone to get him or her alone or away from you

• Using a group of friends to remind someone behaving inappropriately that his or her behavior should be respectful

• Calling the authorities when the situation warrants

For more support regarding Sexual Assault Bystander Intervention please contact Jake Erickson, Coordinator of the Door County Sexual Assault Center, by phone at 920.559.7511 or email at [email protected]. In the event of an emergency call the Door County 24-Hour Crisis Line 920.746.8996.

This article is brought to you in part by the Door County Coordinated Community Response (CCR) to Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Teams and the Door County Elder and Adult-at-Risk Interdisciplinary Team.