TY - ABST

T1 - Bystanders in the bus

AU - Friis, Camilla Bank

AU - Liebst, Lasse Suonperä

AU - Lindegaard, Marie Rosenkrantz

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Contrary to the long-standing assumption that emergency bystanders are apathetic and non-involved, accumulating evidence shows that bystander intervention is the norm in violentlydangerous public conflicts. However, it is currently uncertain to what extent this resultgeneralizes to everyday public disputes with a low level of danger. Here, we address this gapby analyzing bystander reactions to incidents where bus passengers with invalid tickets disputebeing fined by a ticket inspector. Data were videos clips of incidents recorded by the inspectors’occupational body-worn cameras. Our preliminary results showed that in around half of theincidents, a bystander intervened in the inspector-passenger conflict. The interventionbehaviors were mainly verbal in nature, with only one in five having a physical aspect.Although the current intervention rate is lower than previously reported in high-dangercontexts, our results add to the understanding that bystanders often play an active role inshaping public conflicts. We discuss implications for theory of bystander behavior in ruleenforcement situations and advocate that scholars use video observational methods toexamine bystanders across real-life conflicts with varying danger levels.

AB - Contrary to the long-standing assumption that emergency bystanders are apathetic and non-involved, accumulating evidence shows that bystander intervention is the norm in violentlydangerous public conflicts. However, it is currently uncertain to what extent this resultgeneralizes to everyday public disputes with a low level of danger. Here, we address this gapby analyzing bystander reactions to incidents where bus passengers with invalid tickets disputebeing fined by a ticket inspector. Data were videos clips of incidents recorded by the inspectors’occupational body-worn cameras. Our preliminary results showed that in around half of theincidents, a bystander intervened in the inspector-passenger conflict. The interventionbehaviors were mainly verbal in nature, with only one in five having a physical aspect.Although the current intervention rate is lower than previously reported in high-dangercontexts, our results add to the understanding that bystanders often play an active role inshaping public conflicts. We discuss implications for theory of bystander behavior in ruleenforcement situations and advocate that scholars use video observational methods toexamine bystanders across real-life conflicts with varying danger levels.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

Y2 - 21 September 2022 through 24 September 2022

ER -