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Oct 27, 2016 · For all the importance of eyewitness testimony to the justice system, witnesses can and do get things wrong. Understanding exactly why could help us reduce the chances of further miscarriages...
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- Amina Memon
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- Miscarriage of Justice
Browse Miscarriage of justice news, research and analysis...
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Police often rely on witnesses to finger the right guy, but...
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- Overview
- Understanding the bystander effect
- What causes the bystander effect?
- When might the bystander effect occur?
- Risk factors
- Preventing the bystander effect
- Summary
The bystander effect occurs when people within a group witness an incident but do not take action to interfere due to the presence of other bystanders.
The bystander effect is a theory that emerged in the late 1960s. It suggests that onlookers will become less likely to help a person in need if other people are present.
People may freeze, become apathetic, avoid a plea for help, or ignore an emergency in the presence of other onlookers or bystanders.
This article explores the bystander effect, including what may cause it, real-life examples, and how to prevent becoming a bystander when witnessing an incident that may require intervention.
Researchers coined the term “the bystander effect” following the violent attack and murder of a woman named Catherine “Kitty” Genovese.
The crime occurred over approximately 30 minutes. During this time, 38 neighbors heard Kitty’s cries for help, but no one called the police.
Although the incident became global news, the American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that similar incidents with inactive witnesses likely occur daily.
A 2018 article references an older research program from the 1960s that examined the diffusion of responsibility during emergencies.
A 2019 article suggests the bystander effect may occur because of the interdependence between groups of people.
The article’s authors suggest people in a group may expect someone else to help, which relieves them of the responsibility to take action.
Even if they think no one else will help, the blame for inaction applies to everyone in the group, which may lessen feelings of guilt.
Another 2018 article suggests three main psychological factors that may lead to the bystander effect:
•Diffusion of responsibility: People may feel a shared responsibility when in a larger group, so individuals may not take action because they feel less responsibility when others are present.
•Evaluation apprehension: People may fear unfavorable judgment from others around them if they take action.
Bullying can involve bystanders, who may or may not take action to stand up against the behavior. Bystanders in bullying incidents may take on various roles, including:
•passive supporters, who witness the incident but do nothing to interfere
•possible defenders, who want to intervene but are unsure how to do so
•supporters, who encourage or respond positively to the bullying behavior
•defenders, who may tell the bully to stop
A 2019 article suggests the bystander effect may also occur at work. People may stay silent and avoid speaking up to voice concerns, ideas, or opinions relating to their work.
A 2022 study looked at the effect of danger on whether bystanders were more or less likely to intervene and help someone. The study found that bystanders were 19 times more likely to intervene if they witnessed incidents involving targeted aggression.
This may be due to an increased sense of urgency or potential feelings of safety in the presence of other witnesses. Further research is necessary to understand whether the intensity of danger affects a bystander’s likeliness to intervene.
A 2018 article suggests that personality traits, such as sympathy, compassion, and personal distress, may influence whether a bystander is more likely to help.
In incidents with a higher number of bystanders, there is a link between personal distress and a decrease in helping, whereas sympathy did not. Focusing on others needing help, rather than the self, may influence the bystander effect.
The APA recommends the following tips for intervening in a bystander situation:
•being aware of discriminatory or emergency situations
•assuming responsibility for taking action
•deciding how best to intervene
•taking action
People can memorize the five D’s for intervening as a bystander:
The bystander effect is the theory that people are less likely to help someone in need if others are present. This behavior can occur when groups of people witness crimes, violence, or bullying.
It may occur because people perceive themselves as having less responsibility in group settings, fear judgment, or believe that a situation cannot be an emergency if no one else is attempting to help.
- Beth Sissons
Apr 30, 2021 · In recent years, academics and The New York Times itself have concluded that the report had significant errors – the number of witnesses was fewer than 37 and multiple people phoned the police.
- Wayne Eastman
Jul 13, 2017 · Eyewitnesses statements often play a vital role in securing criminal convictions – police surveys show that eyewitness testimony is the main form of evidence in more than 20% of cases. But that...
- Dara Mojtahedi
- Rod Gehl, Darryl Plecas
- 2017
- The Distinction Between Investigative Tasks and Investigative Thinking. To understand the process of investigation, it is necessary to comprehend the distinction between investigative tasks and investigative thinking.
- Progression of the Investigative Process. The investigative process is a progression of activities or steps moving from evidence gathering tasks, to information analysis, to theory development and validation, to forming reasonable ground to believe, and finally to the arrest and charge of a suspect.
- Distinction Between a Tactical Investigative Response and a Strategic Investigative Response. These two different types of investigative responses are defined by the nature and status of the event that the investigator is facing.
- Event Classification and Offence Recognition. In order to enter any investigation in either the tactical or the strategic response mode, an investigator must engage their thinking processes and make decisions about the event they are confronting.
Untruthful or incorrect testimony can lead to wrongful convictions, especially where there is no concrete physical evidence. According to the Innocence Project, in more than 15% of wrongful conviction cases overturned through DNA testing, an informant testified against the defendant at the original trial.
People also ask
How often do inactive Witnesses occur?
Do witnesses overestimate the length of a crime?
Do witnesses talk after an event?
How many eyewitness witnesses are there in a case?
How long should a witness see a perpetrator?
How important is eyewitness testimony in a criminal case?
Thus, since the majority of crimes occur during a brief period of time, witnesses tend to overestimate the amount of time they were exposed to the perpetrator. Penrod and Cutler (1999) have indicated that these overestimates tend to be about three or four times the actual length of the event.
