The origins of active bystanding

There is good news!

The bystander effect can seemed daunting given the need to train staff in standing up to discrimination in healthcare. While the experimental research supports the bystander effect, evidence should always be seen as a whole. When we look at real-world recordings of active conflicts there are grounds for optimism. In 2019, a review of 219 real-world incidents recorded on CCTV across the UK, the Netherlands and South Africa found in 9 out of 10 incidents, at least one bystander but typically several intervened to help the victim. Increased presence of other bystanders made intervention more and not less likely. The authors concluded further research should focus on what makes intervention successful rather than unsuccessful.

The active bystander concept

The bystander approach was used initially in the early 1990s, as an approach to preventing school bullying. One of the innovations of the intervention is it removes exclusive focus on only the victim and perpetrator. Instead, the bystanders were encouraged to take on leadership responsibilities in confronting not only the incidents but also the conditions which enabled bullying to emerge in the schools.

Initial curricula highlighted the role of people who had used their own position to, for example, shelter and rescue victims of the Holocaust or those who had participated in the ‘Freedom rides’ for Civil Rights in the US in the 1960s. The approach was adopted by the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) which sought to educate men in the prevention of gender violence. The focus now on the ‘bystander’ emphasised everyone – friends, family, classmates, colleagues, and co-workers – is in a position to do something about gender violence, even when not present at the incident itself. ‘What is each person able to do to ensure abusive behaviour will not be present in the culture itself?’.

The goal of the programme was not only to stop incidents themselves but to change the norms which facilitated them in the first place. This included addressing the victim-blaming attitudes which can impede being an ally and active bystander. Bystander training therefore has to address not only how to intervene in the moment but how to develop the kinship, intelligent kindness and allyship to address the contextual factors. Engagement with the experiences of victims is essential in facilitating this.

The subsequent development of bystander interventions have emphasised support, care and antiviolence towards the targets of harassment and discrimination. The 5Ds model was developed in the United States and is a common approach in training individuals and groups in intervention skills.

It is this model we will spend the remainder of this week exploring and understanding.