{"id":1055,"date":"2006-08-06T19:57:57","date_gmt":"2006-08-06T23:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:05:12","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:05:12","slug":"the-bystander-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Bystander Effect”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Star<\/em> ran an interesting story this week about the “bystander effect<\/a>.” Apparently, when a crime is happening in public, the likelihood of a bystander doing something about it is inversely <\/em><\/strong>proportional to the number of people around. It’s completely counter-intuitive, but the more people are witness to the crime, the less likely it is that even<\/strike> any single person<\/em> will do something (e.g. intervene, call 911). Basically, it’s because because everyone thinks someone else will do something.<\/p>\n

It’s interesting to think about this in light of Jane Jacob’s “eyes on the street” theory, which holds that crime is less likely to happen if there are a lot of people in or watching public space — which I believe has also been shown to be true. Perhaps “eyes on the street” have a deterrent effect — people are less likely to commit a crime — but, if someone does commit a crime, in fact the “eyes” aren’t likely to do anything about it.<\/p>\n

I suspect there’s also an issue of sense of community — whether or not bystanders see the victim (or perpetrator) as someone they have some responsibility for as part of the same community.<\/p>\n

Edit – David Topping from Torontoist emailed to suggest that I might be exagerrating the bystander effect a bit. While the likelihood of any particular person intervening is reduced when more people are witnessing a crime or a disturbance, he suggests that the larger number of people means that it’s still just as likely that at least one person will do something about it. The two examples in the <\/em>Star story, where no-one<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>did anything, would then be exceptional, probably related to the particular environment and circumstances of these crimes. I also wonder if there’s a difference when people are inside their own private property — I suspect it makes them less likely to feel connected to what is happening in public, and to intervene.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Star ran an interesting story this week about the “bystander effect.” Apparently, when a crime is happening in public, the likelihood of a bystander doing something about it is inversely proportional to the number of people around. It’s completely counter-intuitive, but the more people are witness to the crime, the less likely it isContinue reading “The “Bystander Effect””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4006,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21758],"tags":[3045,28,2308,1378,405],"class_list":["post-1055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-3045","tag-behaviour","tag-david-topping","tag-jane-jacob","tag-the-star"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe "Bystander Effect" - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The "Bystander Effect" - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Star ran an interesting story this week about the “bystander effect.” Apparently, when a crime is happening in public, the likelihood of a bystander doing something about it is inversely proportional to the number of people around. It’s completely counter-intuitive, but the more people are witness to the crime, the less likely it isContinue reading "The “Bystander Effect”"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-08-06T23:57:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T18:05:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dylan Reid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dylan Reid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/\",\"name\":\"The \\\"Bystander Effect\\\" - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-08-06T23:57:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T18:05:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/5db677dc17e5329d01b88dfb319d259b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The “Bystander Effect”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/5db677dc17e5329d01b88dfb319d259b\",\"name\":\"Dylan Reid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/196165a3da8aa047d1d3816d24de1d3a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/196165a3da8aa047d1d3816d24de1d3a?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dylan Reid\"},\"description\":\"Dylan Reid is a senior editor at Spacing Magazine. He has also written articles for NOW magazine and the uTOpia books. He was co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee 2007-2010, was one of the founders of the Toronto Coalition (now Centre) for Active Transportation, and is a co-founder of Walk Toronto. Dylan is also a Fellow at the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at the University of Toronto.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.spacing.ca\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/dylan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The \"Bystander Effect\" - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The \"Bystander Effect\" - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"The Star ran an interesting story this week about the “bystander effect.” Apparently, when a crime is happening in public, the likelihood of a bystander doing something about it is inversely proportional to the number of people around. It’s completely counter-intuitive, but the more people are witness to the crime, the less likely it isContinue reading \"The “Bystander Effect”\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2006-08-06T23:57:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-21T18:05:12+00:00","author":"Dylan Reid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dylan Reid","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/","name":"The \"Bystander Effect\" - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-08-06T23:57:57+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-21T18:05:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/5db677dc17e5329d01b88dfb319d259b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/08\/06\/the-bystander-effect\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The “Bystander Effect”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/5db677dc17e5329d01b88dfb319d259b","name":"Dylan Reid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/196165a3da8aa047d1d3816d24de1d3a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/196165a3da8aa047d1d3816d24de1d3a?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Dylan Reid"},"description":"Dylan Reid is a senior editor at Spacing Magazine. He has also written articles for NOW magazine and the uTOpia books. He was co-chair of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee 2007-2010, was one of the founders of the Toronto Coalition (now Centre) for Active Transportation, and is a co-founder of Walk Toronto. Dylan is also a Fellow at the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at the University of Toronto.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.spacing.ca\/"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/dylan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1055"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36573,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions\/36573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}