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To Intervene or Not Intervene? That Is the Question: Bystanders in the Bullying Dynamic

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Bullying and Victimization Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Bystanders are individuals who witness a bullying episode but are not directly involved as a bully or victim. Bystanders engage in three basic behaviors: (1) negative bystanders—They support the bully either with verbal encouragement or by actually engaging in the bullying; (2) passive bystanders—They do nothing and simply observe the bullying or wait until the bullying has ended and then comfort the victim; or (3) prosocial bystanders—They support the victim by confronting the bully, getting a teacher, or removing the victim from the situation. Recently, the term “upstander” has been used to describe prosocial bystanders. The current chapter provides an overview of prevalence rates of bystander presence and various bystander behavior. A discussion is provided of motivating factors behind bystander responses to bullying including individual psychology, sociometric status/popularity, and situational factors. The impact of witnessing bullying on bystanders is also discussed as well as an overview of how to increase prosocial bystander behavior.

The world is dangerous not because of those who do harm, but because of those who look at it without doing anything.

Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes—goodwill among men and peace on earth.

—Albert Einstein

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Paul R. Smokowski MSW, Ph.D.

  2. Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, USA

    Caroline B. R. Evans

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  1. Paul R. Smokowski MSW, Ph.D.
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  2. Caroline B. R. Evans
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Smokowski, P.R., Evans, C.B.R. (2019). To Intervene or Not Intervene? That Is the Question: Bystanders in the Bullying Dynamic. In: Bullying and Victimization Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20293-4_4

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