Unit 2: The bystander effect - ELIC 140 - Luman - Civic Engagement - Research Guides at Modesto Junior College Library

We Are All Bystanders

Keltner and Marsh, "We Are All Bystanders"
This is the article to be summarized for the Unit Two essay

Search terms

Use these terms for researching the bystander effect:

bystander effect
bystanders
apathy
altruism
Kitty Genovese

Background information

Use the search terms on the left to find overview articles in the Gale Virtual Reference Library, or try one of the articles linked to below.

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window

Bystander Effect
Brief definition of the bystander effect from the Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Bystander Apathy
Overview of the psychological studies that identified the bystander effect in the wake of the murder of Kitty Genovese.
Bystanders
This article from the Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity discusses bystanders of mass crimes.

Opinion and analysis on the bystander effect

‘We Are All Responsible’: How #MeToo Rejects the Bystander Effect
An opinion piece that argues "The classic 'Bystander Effect' blames a lack of intervention on diffusion of responsibility. That doesn’t fly anymore."
Six Tips for Speaking Up Against Bad Behavior
A psychologist's tips for how to be more courageous in speaking up about bad behavior, from offensive speech to harmful actions.
When Good People Do Nothing
September 2020 article analyzing diffusion of responsibility in the human rights violations in US immigration policy.
If You’re in Danger, Will Bystanders Help?
October 2019 article from Greater Good Magazine says new studies are calling the bystander effect into question
George Floyd Shows Black Folks Don't Need More 'Allies.' We Need Active Bystanders.
Opinion piece published in June 2020 by NBC News discusses the bystander effect in relatation to the police murders of Black people.
Waiting for Someone Else to Speak Out
2020 article from the Harvard Gazette that analyzes the bystander effect in connection with police violence

News Articles on Events Involving Bystanders

Bullets flew at a Florida 'Peace in the City' event for kids. An armed bystander was ready
August 2018 article from The Washington Post
Bystander tried helping man who was dragged by car
October 2018 article from CNN
Woman pinned under car as bystander mistook stumble for 'scam'
August 2018 article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Phones turning us into apathetic bystanders, says top psychologist
December 2018 article from the London Evening Standard
Boston Marathon bystander Carlos Arredondo says he acted instinctively
April 2013 article from The Washington Post
Meet the Hero: Ralph Lazo
Ralph Lazo (1924-1992) voluntarily imprisoned himself for two years at Manzanar, one of the prisons where Japanese Americans were incarcerated from 1942-1945.

Bystanding/Intervening in Sexual Harrassment in the Workplace

McDonald’s Has a Real Sexual Harassment Problem
July 2020 article from the Nation chronicling 5 years of sexual harrassment at McDonalds.
How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’
October 2018 article from the NY Times that discusses long term issues with sexual harrassment at Google.

Bystanding/Intervening in Child Abuse

"Sickening Story of How a Depraved Paedophile Molested Two Girls"
Article about a neighbor who interrupted child molestation, published in the Sydney Australia Daily Mail, October 2020. Warning: contains graphic details.
What Would You Do if You Witnessed Child Abuse?
2011 article from Greater Good Magazine
What happened to Gabriel Fernandez? Eight-year-old murdered by Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre
February 2020 article from The Sun (US edition). Warning: graphic descriptions

Bystanding/Intervening in Genocide

Germans Knew of Holocaust Horror about Death Camps
2001 article from The Guardian, summarizing a study on civilian knowledge of Nazi atrocities
The Silence of Bystanders
2006 opinion piece in the NY Times about the genocide in Darfur
Opinion: What’s Happening in Syria is Genocide
March 2020 article from the Washington Post

Bystanding/Intervening in Bullying at School

Bully, Bullied, Bystander...and Beyond
2011 article from Teaching Tolerance
Being a Bystander of Bullying
Brief, first person accounts from Australian teens who were either bystanders or interveners in bullying
Bystanders to Bullying
Comprehensive resources from StopBullying.gov, a website of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services

Bystanding/Intervening with Asylum Seekers

She Stopped to Help Migrants on a Texas Highway. Moments Later, She Was Arrested.
May 2019 article from the NY Times
For Asylum-Seekers Waiting In Mexico, Volunteers Offer Medical Help
December 2018 article from NPR
When Good People Do Nothing: On Bystanders and Border Camps.
September 2020 article from Psychology Today

Bystanding/Intervening in Sexual Assault

Telling the Story of the Stanford Rape Case
2016 article from the Atlantic that mentions the involvement of two students who intervened in a sexual assault at their school.
What Bystanders Do When They Witness Violence
2009 article from NPR about a gang rape and the bystander effect

Bystanding/Intervening in the oppression of Palestinians

Israel and Palestine: Events of 2020
Background information on the oppression of Palestinians from Human Rights Watch
Soldiers Order Palestinian to Strip; One Aims Loaded Gun at Woman and Children and Threatens to Shoot Bystanders
June 2020 news article about an incident in Hebron
Palestine: No Action in Assault by Police
2014 article from Human Rights Watch

Bystanding/Intervening in Mob Violence

'I Was Gutted that I'd Been Such a Coward': Photographers who Didn't Step In to Help
2012 article from the Guardian interviews several news photographers who documented violence rather than stop it
Trump Supporters Attacked a Black Woman Walking Home, She Says. Police are Investigating It as a Hate Crime
2021 article from the Washington Post
Flawed Justice After a Mob Killed an Afghan Woman
2015 article from the New York Times about the mob killing of Farkhunda Malikzada in Kabul

Bystanding/Intervening in Syria

Syrian Children Freeze to Death. Bombs Rain Down. And ‘Nobody Cares.’
February 2020 article from the New York TImes
Why We Have a Responsibility to Protect Syria
2012 article from The Atlantic

Bystanding/Intervening in the murder of George Floyd

3 Former Officers Are Convicted of Violating George Floyd’s Civil Rights
New York Times, February 25, 2022
The ‘Bystander Effect’ is Real – But Research Shows that When More People Witness Violence, It’s More Likely Someone Will Step Up and Intervene
From The Conversation, April 20, 2021
Bear Witness, Record, De-escalate: How Race May Affect What Bystanders are Called To Do in Cases Like George Floyd's
USA Today, May 29, 2020

Bystanding/intervening in the Holocaust

Germans knew of Holocaust horror about death camps
2001 article from The Guardian, summarizing a study on civilian knowledge of Nazi atrocities
The Road to Auschwitz Wasn’t Paved With Indifference
January 2020 opinion piece from the New York Times, arguing that heroism isn't required, but non-collaboration is.
Some Were Neighbors
Brief background article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
“The Auschwitz reservation”: Dutch Victims and Bystanders and Their Knowledge of the Holocaust
2017 article from the journal Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Bystanders
Article from the Holocaust Encycyclopedia, published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Bystander During the Holocaust
2017 article from the Utah Law Review

Below is the trailer for the documentary film Ordinary Men: The Forgotten Holocaust. It's available on Netflix.

Bystanding/intervening in the Rwandan Genocide

An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
Publication Date: 2006
The autobiography of the globally-recognized human rights champion whose heroism inspired the film Hotel Rwanda.

Paul Rusesabagina: Without Reservations
2006 interview with Rusesabagina from Mother Jones magazine
Oprah talks to Paul Rusesabagina
2006 interview with Rusesabagina by Oprah Winfrey
Rwanda
From Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, this is an overview of the Rwandan genocide. It does not mention Rusesabagina, but it provides background information on what led to the violence.
The Real Hero of Hotel Rwanda
2006 inteview with Paul Rusesabagina in U. S. Catholic magazine.
A Case of Moral Heroism: Sympathy, Personal Identification, and Mortality in Rwanda
A scholarly analysis from Human Rights Review that explores Rusesabagina's motives.