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My guest blogger for today is Lindsey Roberts from the Life Paths Research Program.
Ask any school-aged child what it means to be a good bystander, and she will almost always tell you that a good bystander is somebody who steps in to stop bullying when she sees it happening. Beginning in elementary school, kids are told repeatedly that it is their personal responsibility to step in and help if they see somebody being picked on or made fun of. For many years now, bullying and violence prevention programs aimed at all ages have focused on promoting active bystanding (which, unfortunately, sounds a bit like an oxymoron). But, how often do kids and adults actually witness things they can do something about? When they do, how likely are they to “stop it on the spot?”1 And lastly, how does having a witness present change things for the victim?
A new study published in Psychology of Violence suggests that another person—a bystander—was present during in nearly 2 out of 3 instances of victimization (such as physical intimidation and assault, social exclusion, and child abuse). For example, 70% people who were physically or socially bullied by peers reported that somebody else witnessed the incident. Most often, the witness was a friend or acquaintance, except in the cases of child abuse and sexual assault, when the witness was more likely to be a family member. A bystander was present in nearly 1 in 5 (18%) cases of sexual assault and for almost 2 in 3 (60%) cases of physical assault on a child. Strangers and police were rarely present for any form of victimization.
When a bystander witnesses violence, how likely are their actions to affect the situation? Good news for all of those anti-bullying programs--in instances of intimidation and social exclusion (for example, children being intentionally kept out of activities), more than 1 in 3 bystanders were able to help improve the situation, and in instances of physical assault, bystanders helped in over half of the instances. It was relatively rare that a bystander made the situation worse. In some instances (witnessing physical or emotional abuse by a caretaker, or witnessing sexual assault), half of the bystanders had no impact on the situation. But, keep in mind the possibility that in many of these instances, the witness could have simply been unable to offer help.
How can bystanders change things for the victim? Helpful bystanders can make victims less afraid and can reduce the chances of physical harm. For example, victims of physical or emotional bullying were less afraid when an onlooker helped the situation. When bystanders intervened, victims were generally less afraid, less likely to be physically hurt, less likely to have their daily routines disrupted, and less likely to have poor mental health as a result. Of course, in some situations, intervening can actually put the well-intentioned bystander in danger. It is also important for both the victim and the bystander that anybody helping also stay safe--victims were more likely to feel positively when they also reported that bystanders were not threatened or harmed.
It seems that the large number of violence prevention programs that try to engage bystanders might be onto something--people who witness violence are can be an important resource in the fight to stop it. Perhaps most importantly, when bystanders step in to help a situation, their actions positively impact the victim in both the immediate situation and in the longer-term future. It is encouraging that more bystanders do help than harm, although a significant number do neither. Prevention programs must not only teach bystanders ways to take action, but also must teach safe ways to intervene. Simply having a witness doesn’t always make much of a difference, but a witness who is able to step in and help the situation in safe ways can have a real and lasting impact.
Learn more about the Life Paths project at http://lifepathsresearch.org.
This project was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.
References:
1 http://www.stopbullying.gov/respond/on-the-spot/index.html
Hamby, S., Weber, M. C., Grych, J., & Banyard, V. (2015). What difference do bystanders make? The association of bystander involvement with victim outcomes in a community sample. Psychology of Violence.
