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BYSTANDER INTERVENTION IN A CRIME

NCJ Number
43923
Author(s)
L BICKMAN
Date Published
Unknown
Length
14 pages
Annotation
RESULTS OF A SERIES OF STUDIES TO TEST BYSTANDER INTERVENTION SHOW THAT THE BEHAVIOR OF OTHER BYSTANDERS HAS THE STRONGEST EFFECT ON CRIME REPORTING.
Abstract
THE EXPERIMENTS TOOK PLACE IN BOTH FIELD AND LABORATORY SETTINGS, AND A NUMBER OF VARIABLES (E.G., POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD THOSE WITNESSED COMMITTING CRIMES, ENCOURAGEMENT OF DISCOURAGEMENT BY OTHER BYSTANDERS FOR THE SUBJECT TO REPORT, SURVEILLANCE OR NONSURVEILLANCE OF SUBJECT BEHAVIOR) WERE EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATED. THE CRIME CHOSEN AS THE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR TEST PURPOSES WAS SHOPLIFTING, AS IT INVOLVES LITTLE DANGER EITHER TO THE EXPERIMENTERS OR SUBJECTS, DOES NOT CREATE GREAT STRESS FOR WITNESSES, AND DOES NOT INVOLVE A LARGE NUMBER OF PERSONS. THE MAJOR FINDINGS INDICATE THAT ATTITUDES TOWARD THE CRIMINAL OR AUTHORITY TO WHOM THE CRIME MIGHT BE REPORTED HAD NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON REPORTING. THE BEHAVIOR OF OTHER BYSTANDERS, HOWEVER, HAD A POWERFUL EFFECT ON REPORTING, INDEPENDENT OF BYSTANDER SURVEILLANCE OR WHETHER THE OTHER BYSTANDERS HAD ACTUALLY WITNESSED THE CRIME. AS DIRECT AND INDIRECT INTERVENTION BY BYSTANDERS HAS ADVANTAGES NOT ONLY FOR THE VICTIM BUT FOR SOCIETY AS A WHOLE (I.E., DETECTION OF CRIMES, INCREASED ACCURACY OF CRIME STATISTICS, CRIME PREVENTION, AND SOCIAL COHESIVENESS), SUGGESTIONS ARE MADE AS TO WHAT TYPE OF COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAMS WOULD BE MOST EFFECTIVE IN INCREASING BYSTANDER INTERVENTION IN CRIME SITUATIONS. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED).