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Bystander Intervention Into Crime: A Study Based on Naturally-Occurring Episodes

Author(s): Ted L. Huston, Mary Ruggiero, Ross Conner and Gilbert Geis
Source: Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Mar., 1981), pp. 14-23
Published by: American Sociological Association
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Social PsychologyQuarterly
1981, Vol. 44, No. 1, 14-23

BystanderIntervention
intoCrime: A StudyBased on
Naturally-Occurring
Episodes
TED L. HUSTON
The PennsylvaniaState University

MARY RUGGIERO
ROSS CONNER
GILBERT GEIS
Universityof California,Irvine

Thirty-two individualswho intervenedin dangerous criminalepisodes such as streetmuggings,


armed robberies,and bank holdups, were interviewedat lengthand compared witha group of
nonintervenersmatched for age, sex, education, and ethnic background. Interveners,in
contrastto noninterveners, reportedconsiderablymore exposure to crimein termsof personal
victimizationand witnessingthe victimizationsof others. Crime intervenersalso were taller,
heavier,and bettertrainedto cope withcrimesand emergencies,havinghad significantly more
life-saving,medical, and police training;and were more likely to describe themselvesas
physicallystrong,aggressive, emotional, and principled.In spite of an intensivesearch for
personalitydifferencesbetweenthe two groups, none werefound. Results suggest that crime
interveners are notpromptedto action by notablystronghumanitarianpurpose or byantisocial
aggressiveness,but ratheract out of a sense of capabilityfounded on trainingexperiencesand
rooted in theirpersonal strength.

The 1964 rape-murder of Kitty andnotedtheirreactions to it(see Huston


Genovesearousednationalinterest
when and Korte, 1976,fora summary of this
the mediarelatedthat38 personsheard work).The ingenuity
and diversityof the
the victim'scries but failed to offerassis- episodes and the sophisticationof the ex-
tance (Rosenthal, 1964; Seedman and perimentaldesignsthathave been brought
Hellman,1974).The Genovesecase also to bear on the issue are noteworthy.
capturedtheattentionofsocialpsycholo- Nonetheless,the externalvalidityand
gists,intimepromptingtheappearanceof generalizabilityof findings derivedfrom
a large body of researchliterature,
the thisresearchare limitedby fourcritical
bestknownworkbeingLatane and Dar- factors.
ley's The UnresponsiveBystander: Why First, conclusions have been based
Doesn't He Help? (1970). The generalaim upon simulations, whichethicallycannot
of the researchand theoryhas been to reproducetheessentialaspectsof violent
determine thereasonsforand thedimen- crimessuchas theGenovesemurder. This
sionsof bystander apathyand action. limitationof laboratory social psychology
Social psychological researchtypically and fieldresearchusingtraditional meth-
has confronted bystanders-usually odologyhas been pointedout by others
students-witha simulatedemergency (e.g., Strickland,Aboud, and Gergen,
1976;McGuire,1973;Ring,1967),andhas
resultedin calls forstudiesof naturally-
occurring eventsusingnew data analytic
This research was supportedby a grantfromthe approaches(Cook and Campbell,1979).
Center for the Study of Crime and Delinquency,
National Instituteof Mental Health (NIMH Grant Although internal validitysometimes may
No. MH 26667). We wish to thank the following have to be reduced (cf. Campbell and
persons who assisted in the interviewing:Richard Stanley, 1966), external validity and
Wright,Duff Zwald, Mike Ripley, Tom Garrett, thereby social policyrelevancecan be in-
JeanieGeis, Jo Weiner, Ijoward Bidna, Soo Heftel,
and Chris Huston. Address all communicationsto:
creasedby use ofthesenewapproaches.
Ted L. Huston, College of Human Development, Second, direct intervention rarelyhas
The PennsylvaniaState University,UniversityPark, beeninvestigated; thatis, interventionin-
PA 16802. volvingthe bystandercentrallyin the
14

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BYSTANDER INTERVENTION INTO CRIME 15

criticaleventso thatthe bystander's ac- more directlythan previous work the


tionsmayaffecthowtheepisodeunfolds. majorfacetsof theGenoveseincidentby
Third,previousresearchgenerallyhas takingstepsto reduceor alleviatethefour
focused on emergencysituationsthat deficienciesnoted earlier. The present
werenotpotentially dangerous ratherthan studyfocuses on (1) real-lifeincidents
relyingupon criminallyviolentevents, rather thanlaboratory orfieldsimulations;
althoughtherehave been some attempts (2) direct,
often life-threatening interven-
tocomenearertothecriminal characterof tionsratherthanindirect, cautiousassis-
the Genovese case. Latane and Darley tance;(3) criminaleventsratherthannon-
forexample,stageda liquorstore criminal
(1970),- emergencies; and (4) thecharac-
theft,seeking to determineconditions teristicsofpersonswho attemptto foila
underwhichonlookerswouldreportthe crime,apprehend a criminal, or otherwise
presumeddepredator to a clerkwho had aid a victimof criminalviolence.In so
goneto therearofthestoretofillan order doing,thisworkaimsto complement and
justbeforethetheft tookplace. Similarly, extendtheearlierinquiriesintobystander
Bickman (1976; Bickman and Green, intervention.
1975)choreographed shopliftingincidents We have groupedour data in termsof
withthe goal of uncoveringparameters threecategories,whichrepresent reasons
influencing onlookerstoreport thetheftor thatsomepeoplemightbe morelikelyto
to keep knowledgeof it to themselves. intervenedirectlyin crimesthanothers.
However,thesestudiesweredesignedto The firstcategory is exposure to crimes
pose littledangerto theaccomplicesor to and emergencies. In order to become an
onlookers.In addition,a few investiga- intervener in crime,a personmusthave
tions(Schwartzand Gottlieb,1976,1980; the opportunity to do so. Individuals
Shotlandand Straw,1976)haveexamined clearlydiffer in theextentto whichthey
thereactionsof onlookersto an assault. are exposedto crime.
Once again,in thesestudiesinterventions A secondset of reasonsthatmightac-
wereindirect, cautious,andverydifferentcountforintervention on thepartofsome
fromthe behaviorof the personsto be personsand not othershas to do with
describedin thispaper. competenciesand skillstheypossess rele-
A finallimitationofpreviousresearchis vant to intervention.Individualswho
its failureto provideinformation on the. mightotherwisebe inclinedto intervene
personalandpersonality of mayfailto do so becausetheylack (or at
characteristics
people who intervenein criminalsitua- leastthinktheylack)thephysicalstrength
tions.Thiscontrastswiththeresearchon or know-howto be effective.-
emergency intervention, in whichseveral Finally,peoplemaydiffer in theirincli-
investigators have examinedpersonality nationto intervene.Some bystandersmay
and dispositionalelementspredictiveof be more predisposedpsychologically to
bystander response to simulated intervenethanothersby virtueof their
emergencies (Clarkand Word,1974;Dar- attitudinalorientationsor personality
leyandBatson,1973;Korte,1971;Latane characteristics. To getat suchpossibilities
and Darley, 1968; Liebhart, 1972; we identified personality scalesthatmight
Schwartz,1977;Staub,1974;Yakimovich relateto a desireto alleviatea victim's
and Saltz, 1971).The studies,in general, suffering or to apprehenda criminalof-
foundweakconnections betweenpersonal fender.We also includedscalesthatmight
and social characteristics of bystanders accountforwhysome people hold back
and theirpropensity to intervene. To the fromtakingdaringactionsof thetypere-
extentthatemergency interveners differ quiredby crimeintervention.
fromnoninterveners, thedatasuggestthat To ascertainempathy forthevictimwe
the formerhave more sympathy,a employed Fischer's (1973) humanitari-
stronger senseofmoralandsocialrespon- anism inventory,particularlythe sub-
sibility,and are morelikelyto possessthe scales measuring beliefin helpingothers,
skillsnecessaryto deal effectively with and Berkowitz and Lutterman's (1968)so-
emergencies (cf.HustonandKorte,1976). cial responsibility scale. The subscaleof
The researchreportedhere confronts Fischer's (1973) humanitarianism scale

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16 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY
dealingwith attitudestowardcriminals of individuals claiming compensation
was expectedto differentiate the inter- underthe statute.Duringthe firstten
venersfroma matchedcomparison group yearsof theprogram's operation, 64 indi-
of noninterveners, withthe intervenersvidualsreceivedcompensation fromthe
predicted to showgreater antipathy-or at Board of Control,the state agency in
least less sympathy-toward the offend- chargeofadministering theprogram. Four
ers. of these cases represented patently
The "beliefin a just world"measure idiosyncratic applicationsof the statute:
(Rubinand Peplau, 1975) was used be- one individual,for example, received
cause we feltthatpeople who thinkthe moneybecausehiscar hadbeendamaged
worldis a justplacewouldbe less inclined whenitwas hitbya highway patrolcar in
to helpa victimtheyfeltmighthavecon- pursuitof a felon,and state authorities
tributed to his or herown victimization.decidedto use the victimcompensation
We used a measureof social alienation statuteto reimbursehim.Anotherthree
(Srole, 1956,as modified by Christie;see interveners were killedin the course of
Robinsonand Shaver, 1973),thoughwe intervening. We madeintensive efforts to
were notcertainwhetherto predictthat trackdowntheremaining 57 interveners.
anomiaamongour interveners wouldbe Whenan individualno longerresidedat
greater (cf.London,1970,arguing thatthe theaddresslistedon hisor hercompensa-
"sociallymarginarl identify withvictims) tionapplication, we checkedthepost of-
or less (thenatureofanomiamightincor- fice fora forwarding address,talkedto
poratedisengagement fromvictims)than formerneighborsand the person'slast
forthematchedsample.Fear of negative knownemployer,called lawyerswhen
evaluation(Watson and Friend, 1969) theyhad been involvedin helpingan ap-
wouldseemto tap a generalsense of so- plicantmake a claim,and wroteto the
cial wariness;interveners could be ex- Department ofMotorVehiclesinan effort
pectedto be less warythanmembersof to locate the individual.We interviewed
thematchedcomparison group;or,possi- all but 13 of the interveners: thecurrent
bly, interveners mightfearthatinaction addressesof six couldnotbe found;four
wouldbringaboutnegativeevaluationof othershad moved out of the state;and
themby others.The sensation-seekingthreerefusedto be interviewed.
scale (Zuckermanet al., 1964)was em- Of the 44 personswe interviewed, 34
ployedto testthe likelihoodthatour in- werecompensated forlosses sufferedas a
tervenerswere drawninto the criminal resultofintervening ina criminal episode.
eventsbecause theyget pleasureout of Each interviewee gave a detailedaccount
adventureand risk taking.The anger oftheepisodeinwhichheor shehadbeen
reactioninventory(Novaco, 1975) was involved, after which the interviewer
usedto determine whether theintervenersratedboththedegreeto whichtheinter-
weremoreanger-prone thanthemembers venerhad initiated hisor herinvolvement
of thecomparisongroup. and theextentto whichthesituation was
dangerous.Ratingswere made on a 5-
pointscale, with0 meaningno initiative
METHOD (ordanger).Ratingsof3 orloweron either
scale resultedin theelimination ofthein-
Participants
dividualfromourfinalstudysample.Two
Crime interveners. In 1966, the state individualswere excludedbecause they
ofCalifornia enacteda"Good Samaritan" became involvedmoreby happenstance
statute (CaliforniaGovernmentCode, thanby designand/or becausetheyinter-
1396013967),whichprovidescompensa- venedin situations of a relativelyinnocu-
tion to bystanderswho are injuredor ous nature.
otherwisesuffer loss as a resultof inter- The 32 personswe studiedhad inter-
veningin a crime, aiding an accident vened in assaults (n = 10), holdups (n =
victim,or helpinga police officer(cf. 7), burglaries orbreakins(n = 2), orother
Edelhertzand Geis, 1974:76-106).We seriouscrimes(n = 5). Two vignettes il-
drewourstudypopulation fromtheroster lustratethe kindsof criminaleventsin

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BYSTANDER INTERVENTION INTO CRIME 17
whichmembersof our sample became in- dozentimes,butherlifewas savedbythe
volved: old-fashioned steelcorsetthatshe wore.
-A youngman,lateone Saturdayevening, The intervener suffered cuthandtendons
was drivingbya dancehalljustas thedance whentheassailantstabbedherwhileflee-
was endingand thecrowdwas beginning to ing.
spilloutontothesidewalk.He noticeda lot The ethnicdistribution oftheinterven-
ofpeoplesuddenlyrunning towardan area. ers showed27 whites,one black, three
Then,as he recounts whathappened,he saw chicanos,and one Asian. Theyaveraged
"thisdudecarrying a girlby herhair,drag- 31.2yearsin age and 13.1yearsofeduca-
gingherandpunching her,punchingherout
like a beanbag."At thatpointhe became tion.Twenty-eight of the 32 interveners
involved:"I wentoverthereand I grabbed were compensatedforactionsthattook
thedudeandI shovedhimoverandI saidlay place in one of California's fourlargest
offthechick.So meandhimstarted goingat metropolitan areas (Los Angeles, San
it.I toldhimto getoutofhere,man,lookat Diego, San Francisco-Oakland, Sac-
her,man,thegirrsmouth'sall bleeding,she ramento).
gotherteethknockedout,shegota handful Nonintervening comparison sam-
of hair pulled out. Everybodywas just ple. The UCLA Institute forSocial Sci-
standingaround."A further exchangeof ence Researchdraws, on a semiannual
blowsensued,one ofwhichbroketheinter- basis,a stratified randomsampleof 1,000
vener'sjaw, beforethe police arrivedand
tooktheassailantintocustody. adults residingin the Los Angelesmet-
-Aman was athomewithhiswifeandother ropolitan area. The namesand addresses
family members whenone ofhis sonsburst of200individuals whohadparticipated in
into the house sayingthe grocerystore thesurveyconductedduring theSpringof
acrossthestreetwas beingheldup and his 1976and who had agreedto takepartin
brother was in thestore.The man,thinking further interviews were drawnrandomly
thathisson mightbe in danger,racedhead- from thelistofrespondents. We wereable
longacrossthestreetand intothestore.He to locateand interview 155of theseindi-
saw a manwitha riflewitha scope on it viduals.This groupconstituted the pool
facingthe womanbehindthe counter.He fromwhichwe drewa sampleof respon-
describeswhathappenednextin thefollow-
ingway: "The lady lookedat me and just dentswho indicatedthattheyhad notdi-
said,'Help me, please!' So theguyturned rectlyintervened in eithera crimeor an
aroundto shootme. I just grabbedtherifle emergency duringtheprevioustenyears.
fromhim, threwit down, knockedhim These individualswere matchedon a
down."After a meleeinwhichtheintervener person-by-person basis with our crime
was cutbypiecesofbrokenbottlesthathad interveners in termsof sex, ethnicback-
fallenfroma basket,he sutbdued theassail- ground,age, and education. The two
ant, and was hitting himwhenthe police groupswerematchedexactlyforsex and
arrived. in all but two instancesforethnicback-
The remaining30 episodes were no less ground;theydidnotdiffer significantly
in
dramatic,no less dangerous.It is not sur- terms of age (t(31) = 1.25, p > .05) or
prising,therefore,that27 of the 32 inter- education (t(31) = .14, p > .05). The use
veners (84%) indicatedthattheywere in- of ex post factomatching proceduresof
jured in the course of intervening. thistypemust,of course,be interpreted
The intervenersin our sample were by withcautionbecause of shortcomings in-
no means representativeof the population herentin the method(see Campbelland
at large. The most strikingdistinctionwas Stanley,1966).
in the sex distribution.All but one of the
32 intervenerswere men. The onlyfemale Procedure
was an older woman who heard a loud
rapping on the door of her 83-year-old Interviews wererequestedfrompoten-
neighbor that prompted her to look tialparticipants by meansof a letterex-
throughher entrypeephole, but she did plaining ourinterest in attitudes
regarding
not see anything.A minuteor so later she crimesand emergencies.The letterin-
heard a scream and hastened to the res- cludeda preaddressed, stampedpostcard
cue. The neighbor was knifed about a on whicha convenient timeandplace for

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18 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY
interviewing, as wellas phonenumbers (if card,and therespondents wereasked to
applicable)couldbe indicated.Mostofthe sortthecardsintofivepiles: (a) strongly
interviews werearrangedbythismethod; agree; (b) agree; (c) undecided;(d) dis-
othersresultedfromappointments made agree;and (e) strongly disagree.
by telephoneor unannounced visits.We The remaining itemsweredrawnfrom
paid $10 forparticipation in the study. the followingtwo scales and organized
The interviewsalmost always took into a paper and pencil questionnaire
place in therespondent's residence.They completedby the respondents:Zucker-
generallylasted between 1-?2and 2-?2 man's (Zuckerman et al., 1964)
hours,withtheaveragerunning closerto sensation-seekingscale (33 items); and an
the shorterend of the range for the anger reaction inventory(Novaco, 1975;
noninterveners and towardthelongerend 18 items).
fortheinterveners. Reconstruction of the criminal
event. Anothersectionof the question-
The InterviewSchedule naire concentrated on the interviewees'
experiences withcrimesandemergencies.
The interview schedulehad fourmajor This sectionbeganwitha seriesof ques-
sections:(a) criminal justiceattitudes; (b) tionsabout how manytimesduringthe
demographic and lifehistory information;pasttenyearstherespondent hadperson-
(c) personalattitudes; and (d) reconstruc-ally been a victimor had witnessedthe
tionofthecriminal event.The portionsof victimization of anotherin regardto a
theinterview schedulerelevant to thepres- specifiedlistof crimesand emergencies.
entreportare notedbelow. For each eventthathad been witnessed,
Demographic and. life historyinforma- the respondent was asked to report
tion. Basic information was gathered re- whether or nothe or shehadintervened in
gardingtherespondent's age, occupation, somewayon behalfofthevictim.At that
maritalstatus,numberof children,reli- point,the interviewer coded the respon-
gious faithand religiosity, familyback- dent's intervention(s) as indirect(e.g.,
ground,geographic mobility, andwhether callingthepoliceforassistance)or direct
or nottherespondent had anyof thefol- (e.g., chasingtheassailanton foot).Infor-
lowingtrainingexperiencesthat might mationaboutthefollowing typesofcrimes
bear upon competence to intervene: was obtained:holdup,car theft,purse
police, life-saving, first-aid, self-defensesnatching/pickpocket, burglary/break in,
(karate),and medicaltraining.Respon- assault, murder(the item pertaining to
dentsalso wereaskedto sort24 adjective personalvictimization was omitted,of
traitsintothreegroups:(a) describesme; course), and other serious crimes.
(b) undecided;and (c) does notdescribe Emergencies specified werecaraccidents,
me. fires,potentialdrownings, seriousindus-
Personal attitudesurvey. This survey trial accidents, heart attack/stroke/
consisted of 131 items drawn froma seizure,and otherseriousaccidents.
numberofpersonality scales. The first80 Ifa directcriminal interventionwas re-
itemsweretakenfromthefollowing per- ported,we obtaineda description ofwhat
sonalityinventories: Fischer's(1973)hu- had happened.Once information about
manitarianism scale (22 items),withsub- how the respondentinitiallybecame in-
scaleson helpingothers,humanitarianism volved and the generalcourse of the
towardcriminals,and social responsibil-episode had been recorded,we sought
ity;Rubinand Peplau's (1975) "just world' specificdetails. We asked where and
inventory(20 items); Srole's (1956) whenthe eventtook place, whetherthe
alienationscale (9 items),as modified by scene of the event was familiarto the
Christie(see Robinsonand Shaver,1973); bystander, themoodofthebystander just
Berkowitzand Lutterman's (1968) mea- prior to the event, and whetherthe
sure of social responsibility(8 items); and bystander thought therewas muchchance
Watson and Friend's (1969) scale of beinghurtat the timehe or she took
measuringfearof negativeevaluation (11 action.The participants also were asked
items).Each itemwas placedon a 3 x 5 to describetheirbehaviorin thesituation

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BYSTANDER INTERVENTION INTO CRIME 19
as wellas thecharacteristics(e.g., sex) of peoplemightbe morelikelythanothersto
the otherindividualspresent.These in- intervene.Firstwe willpresentthe data
cludedthevictim(s),theassailant(s),and concerning exposureto crime,thenper-
other bystanders, the last group sonalityand attitudinal measures,and fi-
categorizedaccordingto whetherthey nallycompetenceto intervene.
aidedtheinterviewee's intervention effort
eitherin a director an indirectfashionor Exposure to Crimeand Opportunityto
merelystoodby.1 Intervene

Group Comparability
To intervenein a crime,an individual
mustfirstwitnesssuch an event. Some
To determinepossible idiosyncratic personssee a good deal morecrimethan
characteristicsof the crimeinterveners,others.Partof thisexperienceundoubt-
we comparedthemwithpersonsin our edly relatesto theirplaces of residence,
Los Angelesarea samplewho had indi- wheretheywork,and theirotherhabits.
catedthattheyhad intervened in a crime Crimeinterveners reported havingbeen
during thepasttenyears.Onlynineofthe exposed to considerablymore serious
155 personsfromthis samplesaid they crimeduringthe past ten yearsthanthe
had directlyintervened in a crime,and noninterveners(t(31) = 2.81, p < .01).
noneofthesewereinjuredintheprocess. Theyindicatedthattheyhadwitnessedan
The twogroupsofcrimeinterveners were averageof3.8 crimes(s.d. = 7.0), a figure
indistinguishable,except withregardto thatcontrastssharplywiththeaverageof
theirresponses to Zuckermanet al.'s .28 crimes(s.d. = .68) forour matched
(1964)sensation-seekingscaleandthreeof comparison group.The averagefigure for
the self-descriptiveadjectivetraits.The crimeinterveners was inflated, however,
intervenersin our study sample were by one respondent who said thathe had
lowerin sensation-seeking and less likely seen 37 crimes.Even omitting this re-
to describe themselvesas ambitious, spondent, thedifferencebetweenthetwo
idealistic,and principled.Of thefourdif- groupsis considerable (an averageof2.6,
ferences,onlyone bearsupona variable s.d. = 3.4, compared to .29, s.d. = .69),
that discriminatedbetween our study andstatistically (t(30)= 3.64,p
significant
groupand the noninterveners (as willbe < .01).
discussedbelow). The interveners in our Equallyinteresting
are theinterveners'
samplewereless likelyto see themselves reportsof past victimization and direct
as principledthanthe crimeintervenersintervention intocrimesotherthanthose
identified throughthe Los Angelessur- that triggered our interview.The inter-
vey. It appears,then,thatour selection venersreportedhavingthemselvesbeen
procedureenabledus to locatebona fide victimsofseriouscrimesmorethantwice
intervenersin crime; we can be rea- as oftenas thenoninterveners (M = 1.81,
sonablycertainthatthereareno"fakes"in s.d. = 1.73,vs.M=.81,s.d. = 1.06;t(31)=
our sample.We could not have been so 2.74,p < .01). Eleven of theinterveners
surehad we selecteda groupof individu- reported thattheyhaddirectly intervened
als solelyon thebasisoftheir(orsomeone inat leastonecrimeotherthantheonefor
else's) claimthattheyhad intervened in a whichtheyeventuallywerecompensated.
dangerouscriminalevent.
PersonalityCharacteristics
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The data showed,contrary to our ex-
Theresultsarepresented intermsofthe pectations,thatthe interveners and the
threeearlieridentified reasonsthatsome comparisongroupwerevirtually indistin-
guishablein termsof personalitycharac-
I Descriptivedata regardingthe situationalparam- teristics.None of the eightscales dif-
eters of the 32 interventions(e.g., the numberof ferentiatedthetwogroups,nordidanyof
bystanderspresent)will not be includedin the pres- the three subscales of Fischer's(1973)
ent paper. measureofhumanitarianism. Thet-values

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20 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY
formatchedpairs(n = 31)2 (withtheposi- Table 1. Comparisons of Crime Interveners and
tive values indicatingthatthe property Matched Noninterveners on Reporting
measuredby the scale was moreevident DifferentForms of Training
in theresponsesof thecrimeinterveners Matched
thanthecomparisongroup)were: Anger Crime Non-
Reaction Inventory,t = .98; Social Interveners interveners
Alienation, t = .93; Beliefina JustWorld, Training n % n % x2
t = - .22; SocialResponsibility,t = .77; and Life-Saving 20 62.5% 10 31.3% 5.08*
Humanitarianism, t = -.32. The subscale First-Aid 28 87.5% 20 62.5% 4.08*
resultson the Humanitarianism measure Medical 6 8.8% 0 0.0% 4.60*
were: HelpingOthers,t = 1.00; Social Self-Defense
Police
17 53.1%
10 31.3%
10 31.3% 2.31
2 6.2% 5.03*
Responsibility, t = .13; and Attitudes
t= -1.06. *p <.05.
TowardCriminals,

Competenceto Intervene to intervene thanifthosetraits


effectively
were notexperimentally induced.A per-
The measuresthatyieldedthemostsig- ceived ability to handle a situation,
nificant resultswerethosebearingon the therefore, seemsto be relatedto interven-
trainingthe respondentshad thatmight tionintoit.
assist themin theirintervention efforts. The trainingthe interveners had ac-
As Table 1 indicates,therewereno nota- quiredis, of course,difficult to interpret
ble differences in regardto training in ka- causally. They might have acquired
rate.3But forfirst-aid, life-saving, medi- emergencyskills because of personal
cal, and police training, the differencestraitsthatalso propelledtheintervention,
betweenthe two groupsreachedstatisti- thoughit is important to note thatour
cally significant levels. The life-savingstudydid not uncoversuch traits.The
skillsneverwere called intoplay in the training might merelyhavecomplemented
intervention episodes. Presumably, theirphysicalattributes: police training,
though, theyservedina symbolicmanner for example,can only be receivedif a
to reinforce theintervener's self-image as personmeetsa minimum heightrequire-
a personwiththeabilityto aid others.In ment.The medicaland first-aid training
an earlierinvestigation, Clarkand Word poses a different set of issues. Normally
(1974) found that persons who were suchtraining requiresno unusualphysical
knowledgeable(as comparedto naive) prerequisites.We would interpretthe
aboutelectronics providedsaferand more strikingdifferencebetween the two
rapidhelp to a manwho apparently had groupsas indicating thattheacquisitionof
become entangledin electrical wires. first-aid and medicaltraining carrieswith
Similarly, Midlarsky (1971;Midlarsky and it indoctrinationinto an ethic (sup-
Midlarsky, 1973)foundinan experimentalplemented byknow-how) thatimpelsren-
situation thatpersonsinwhomconfidence deringassistanceto others.
had been inducedand who saw them- The physicalstatureandself-concept of
selvesas havinghighstatusweremoreapt theinterveners complement theirtraining
experience, and suggestthattheinterven-
ers have a commanding presence.Their
2
One of the crime intervenersdid not respond to average height was 71.2 inches (s.d. =
the personalityscale items. Hence, n = 31 rather 3.2), whilemembers ofthematchedsam-
than32 forthe t-testscomparingrespondentson the ple on theaveragewere1.6inchesshorter
personalityscales. (M = 69.6 inches, s.d. = 3.2; t(31)= 2.22,
to note that
it is also interesting
3 Parenthetically,
p < .05). The weightvariations weretied
a large numberof respondentsin both groups-17
(53%) of the interveners and 11 (34%) of the to height,with the interveners at 176
matchedsample-had had karatetraining.We would poundsaveraging 15 poundsheavierthan
be surprisedwere the figuresso highforthe popula- members of the matchedsample(t(31) =
tionat large; indeed, of the 155 individualswe inter- 2.49, p < .05).
viewed in the group fromwhich we drew the com-
parison sample, only 36 (23%) had karate training in addition,saw
The crimeinterveners,
and of these II were in our matched sample. in comparison
themselvesas formidable

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BYSTANDER INTERVENTION INTO CRIME 21
to thecriminal offenders theyconfronted. naturalenvironment intervention depends
Theyestimatedthattheywereon theav- on opportunity, and therefore is notfully
erageabout2.8 inchestaller(t(27)= 2.99, understandable in termsof variationsin
p < .01) and about 21 pounds heavier the personal qualities of experimental
(t(27) = 2.43, p < .05) than the criminal subjectsor the propertiesof contrived
offenders withwhomtheywereinvolved. events.The finding in thepresentinvesti-
Thisself-image was further in gationthatinterveners
exemplified were exposed to
theway the interveners (as comparedto crimemorefrequently thannoninterven-
thematchedgroup)sortedself-descriptiveers (despitethefactthatthevastmajority
adjectivetraits.Four of the two dozen ofindividuals inbothgroupsliveandwork
traits reached the level of statistical in majormetropolitan areas) suggeststhat
significance.One of these, physically a more thorough understanding of
strong(t(31) = 2.63, p < .05), bears upon bystander intervention processeswill re-
the interveners' physicalsense of them- quireworkdirectedtowardthediscovery
selves. The otherthreetraitsthat dif- of social, personal,and environmental
ferentiatedthe intervenersfrom the correlatesof exposure.This workmight
matched group were aggressive (t(31) = usefullybuildupon the considerablere-
2.13, p < .05), emotional (t(31) = 2.40, p searchin the fieldof "victimology" con-
< .05), and principled(t(31) = 2.25, p < cernedwiththe characteristics of crime
.05). victims(cf. Drapkinand Viano, 1974).
The- interveners'self-attributions of An alternative approachto theissue of
physical strengthand aggressiveness opportunity to intervenemightinvolve
reinforcethe earlier materialregarding comparing a groupof interveners witha
competence.The ascriptionsof aggres- group of noninterveners matched for
sivenesscould have emergedaftertheir criminalexposure. Such an approach
interventions; thatis, theirbehaviorcould wouldhavetheadvantageofinsuring that
haveinduceda senseoftheirforcefulnessthegroupshad had equal chanceto inter-
that translatedinto the interviewre- vene, but that the noninterveners had
sponse.On theotherhand,itis likelythat chosennotto provideaid. The noninter-
thetraitofaggression is a centralcharac- venersin our sample,it mightbe argued,
teristicin theportrait of theinterveners: couldbe "potentiar' interveners-individ-
these are persons with a commanding uals similarin manyrespects(including,
presencewho activelymove intophysi- perhaps,alongdimensions ofpersonality)
callychallenging situations withassurance to interveners-who simplyhad not had
and confidencein theirabilityto handle theopportunity to become"actual"inter-
them. veners.
Effortsto selecta"true"nonintervening
CONCLUSION
comparison group(i.e., a groupof indi-
vidualswhohadthechancetointervene in
Our research,withits focuson direct a crimebutdidnotdo so, eitherdirectly or
intervention into actual crimes, offers indirectly) fromour sample of 155 Los
some new insightsregarding the reasons Angelesmetropolitan area residents were
behind bystander intervention into largelyunsuccessful. Wefoundessentially
dangeroussituations.Experimentalre- thatthesepeopledo notsurface,and we
search has, by necessity, used suspect that this occurs for social de-
researcher-selected samples(ratherthan sirability reasons. We could locate only
self-selected ones), and examined eightpersonswho werewillingto report
bystanderresponseto simulatedcrimes that they had witnessedthe criminal
and emergencies, mostof themnot of a victimization of anotherwhiletheystood
severeor dangerousnature(Shotlandand by and did nothing.It is possible that
Huston,1979).Experimental researchhas otherindividualswho witnesseda crime
the asset of control,and such workhas butdid notattempt to helpmayhave ini-
producedusefuldata about whypeople tiallyseen the eventas noncriminal, or
intervene in eventsonce theysee them. mayovertimehave redefined it as such.
Nonetheless,our data suggestthatin the Researcherswho choose to oversamplea

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22 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY
givenpopulationin an effort to obtaina thelaboratory and thefield,andthetypes
sizeablenumberof"true"nonintervenersof responsesstudied,mayhave-rendered
maybe facedwitha self-selection problem issues of competenceless relevantand
because the individualsidentified would personalityvariables more relevantto
be onlya subgroupofthetotalpopulation bystander actionthanwas thecase in this
oftruenoninterveners, thatis, thosewill- study.The extenttowhichindividuals feel
ingand able to reporttheirnoninterven-empathy towardvictimsofan accidentor
tionaccurately. crimemayaffect thelikelihood ofhelping,
Our interveners thrustthemselvesinto providing theycan helpwithlittleeffort or
patently dangeroussituations, andmostof risk.Butourinterveners interjected them-
them(27 of 32) wereinjuredas a conse- selvesintoclearlydangeroussituations-
quence of becoming involved. They situationsthat for most people would
soughtpubliccompensation to redressthe arouse considerablefear and hesitation.
financialloss thatresultedfromtheirac- People who are able to suppressfear,or
tions. Given these considerations,the whofeelless fearthanothers,perhapsas
possibilityexiststhatoursampleis unrep- a resultofa senseofcompetence, maybe
resentative of interveners on the whole. mostapttointervene inhighly threatening
We suspectthatourpopulation mayover- situations.It is notablethatonlyone of
representpeople of white,middle-class our32 crimeinterveners indicatedthathe
backgroundin comparisonto minorities thought he might be injuredat thetimehe
and personsfromothersocial classes for enteredinto the episode. This apparent
tworeasons.First,middle-class individu- self-confidence, when consideredin the
als mightbe betterequippedin termsof contextof our data on thephysicalpres-
educationalbackground to filepapersfor enceandtraining experiences ofourcrime
compensation, and therefore less intimi- interveners, suggeststhatrewardingre-
datedbytheprospectofdoingso. Second, search work mightbe directedtoward
the majorityof intervenerswere told identifying factors that influence
about the Good Samaritanstatuteby bystanders' estimatesof theirchancesof
policeofficers whoarrivedat thesceneof successfulintervention invarioustypesof
thecriminal event.It maybe thatpolice- situations.
menare less inclinedto alertinterveners
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