A qualitative evaluation of bystander training: What works?
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Author | Nicola Roberts,Heaven Marsh |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12487 |
Received: 25 March 2021 Accepted: 17 February2022
DOI: 10.1111/ho jo.12487
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A qualitative evaluation of bystander training:
What works?
Nicola Roberts1Heaven Marsh2
1Nicola Roberts is Associate Professor of
Criminology, University of Sunderland
2Heaven Marsh is Research Assistant,
University of Sunderland
Correspondence
Nicola Roberts, Associate Professor of
Criminology, University of Sunderland.
Email: nicola.roberts@sunderland.ac.uk
Abstract
Research shows that bystander training has the poten-
tial to reduce violence and abuse. It is not clear how and
why the training works. We evaluated bystander train-
ing to find out what works. We found that interactive
techniques, such as group discussions, ‘the video’, and
the use of real-world examples were the best ways of
delivering the training because they stood out and were
remembered by participants. These findings add to the
paucity of research on what works in bystander train-
ing, and in doing so, raises implications for the design
and delivery of future training.
KEYWORDS
abusive and violent behaviours, design and delivery of bystander
training, interactive techniques, what works
1 INTRODUCTION
In 1993, two ten-year-old boys, led a two-year old toddler, Jamie Bulger, from a shopping centre
in Liverpool while members of the public looked on (Weinman, 2016). Some of them questioned
the two boys about the toddler’s distress and injury (Levine, 1999). However,he was subsequently
found, murdered (Weinman,2016). ‘Viv’, a domestic violence victim, was viciously assaulted by an
intimate partner.The attack was seen by two witnesses, who were reluctant to give evidence to the
police. They were subsequently re-interviewed, and the perpetratorwas convicted and given a cus-
todial sentence (The Prosecutors, 2016). In 2020, a video was uploaded to social media showing
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits
use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or
adaptations are made.
© 2022 The Authors. The HowardJournal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Howard J. Crim. Justice. 2022;61:427–443. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hojo 427
428 THE HOWARDJOURNAL OF CRIME AND JUSTICE
a schoolboy, who was Sikh, being physically attacked by two schoolboys. Other schoolchildren
were seen in the video watching the incident. Many vehicles also drove past, while the attack
was ongoing. The school took ‘appropriate action’ against the perpetrators and the police investi-
gated the incident as a hate crime (Nsubuga, 2020, np). In ‘Viv’s’ and the ‘Sikh schoolboy’ attacks,
onlookers were perceived not to intervene. This has become known as the bystander effect where
onlookers, who are observing an incident, are thought not to intervene when in a group setting
because of diffused responsibility among the group. The inaction of other onlookers can lead indi-
viduals to perceive the behaviour they are witnessing as not a problem (e.g., in the case of Jamie
Bulger (Levine, 1999)) or an emergency, and/or, that others are intervening/have intervened (Dar-
ley & Latane, 1968;Garciaetal.,2002; Manning, Levine & Collins, 2007). Bystander training has
been developed to overcome the bystander effect. It aims to develop a culture of intolerance to
violence and abuse in the community (Universities UK, 2016), so that the community is com-
pelled to feel responsible for preventing violence and abuse (Jewkes, Flood & Lang, 2014; Levine,
Philpot & Kovalenko, 2020). This article begins by reviewing the research about how, when and
why bystanders intervene. This will set the context for understanding the design and delivery of
bystander training. Yet most evaluationsof bystander training have assessed the outcomes of the
training rather than what works in the training. This leads us into outlining our methods of eval-
uating bystander training. We then present our findings about what works in bystander training
with a discussion of the implications for future training.
2 THE BYSTANDER EFFECT: WHEN, HOW AND WHY DO
BYSTANDERS INTERVENE
Recent research has sought to further elucidate the bystander effect to understand when, how
and why bystanders intervene. In Fischer et al.’s (2011) meta-analytic review, they found that the
bystander effect can be less pronounced in situations perceived as an emergency because such
situations are more likely to be clearly defined as requiring help,which enhances bystander inter-
vention. In Witte et al.’s (2017, p.149) research, in the US, 321 university students completed a
survey asking them about ‘risky situations’ they had observed. Most students had witnessed at
least one risky incident: most common were aggressive or sexually abusive behaviours between
dating/pre-dating couples. On average, 50% of students said they intervened into such incidents.
Philpot et al.’s (2020) research analysed 219 videotapes captured by surveillance cameras and
found that bystanders intervened by physically holding, blocking, pulling or pushing the per-
petrator, and used gestures that calmed the perpetrator or consoled and helped the victim. They
found ‘that in 9 of 10 public conflicts, at least 1 bystander, but typically several, will do some-
thing to help’ (Philpot et al., 2020, p.66). Levine, Taylor & Best (2011, p.407), in their analysis of
CCTV images ‘in public drinking spaces’ found that bystanders, particularly those using calming
approaches and in connection with other bystanders, are more likelyto de-escalate aggressive situ-
ations. Levine & Crowther (2008) found that when bystanders are viewed as friends and the group
size increases, bystander intervention is more likely when the victim is perceivedto be ‘an ingroup
member’ (p.1437).This concurs somewhat with Storer, McCleary & Hamby’s (2021) research.They
conducted focus group interviews with young people aged 17–22 years, living in a volatile com-
munity in the US, who were regularly exposed to racial abuse perpetrated by the police, and
domestic abuse. They aimed to investigate how young people engaged with their communities, in
terms of if and how they became involved in community and dating violences. The authors found
that bystander intervention was more likely if the incident was serious for its potential to cause
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