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“Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders

Bystander behaviour in Social psychology and criminology has often been discussed in terms of classic theory (as the bystander effect), bystander intervention for the purpose of crime prevention, situational factors impacting intervention or whether bystanders actually intervene. Other studies have...

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Main Author: Geyer, Riyaaz
Other Authors: Moult, Kelley
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Public Law 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Geyer, Riyaaz
author2 Moult, Kelley
author_browse Geyer, Riyaaz
Moult, Kelley
author_facet Moult, Kelley
Geyer, Riyaaz
author_sort Geyer, Riyaaz
collection Thesis
description Bystander behaviour in Social psychology and criminology has often been discussed in terms of classic theory (as the bystander effect), bystander intervention for the purpose of crime prevention, situational factors impacting intervention or whether bystanders actually intervene. Other studies have looked at individual motivations for intervention, for example altruism/egoism. This study looks at how bystanders understand intervention and ultimately how they might perceive their roles as bystanders in one community in Cape Town – the broader Athlone area in the Cape Flats. Using a survey (n=60), carried out with both pen and paper and online modes of administration, the study found that bystanders in the Athlone not only often engage in prosocial intervening behaviour, but their view themselves fitting between an altruistic up keeper of social norms and an egoist actively negotiating the risks involved with intervening because there is concern for their own safety. The study also finds that regardless of the controversial position law enforcement and police hold in South Africa, many members of the Athlone community would rely on them when intervention is required.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:34.243Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37136 “Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders Geyer, Riyaaz Moult, Kelley Criminology, Law and Society Bystander behaviour in Social psychology and criminology has often been discussed in terms of classic theory (as the bystander effect), bystander intervention for the purpose of crime prevention, situational factors impacting intervention or whether bystanders actually intervene. Other studies have looked at individual motivations for intervention, for example altruism/egoism. This study looks at how bystanders understand intervention and ultimately how they might perceive their roles as bystanders in one community in Cape Town – the broader Athlone area in the Cape Flats. Using a survey (n=60), carried out with both pen and paper and online modes of administration, the study found that bystanders in the Athlone not only often engage in prosocial intervening behaviour, but their view themselves fitting between an altruistic up keeper of social norms and an egoist actively negotiating the risks involved with intervening because there is concern for their own safety. The study also finds that regardless of the controversial position law enforcement and police hold in South Africa, many members of the Athlone community would rely on them when intervention is required. 2023-03-02T09:44:31Z 2023-03-02T09:44:31Z 2022 2023-02-20T12:48:15Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37136 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law
spellingShingle Criminology, Law and Society
Geyer, Riyaaz
“Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders
thesis_degree_str Master's
title “Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders
title_full “Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders
title_fullStr “Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders
title_full_unstemmed “Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders
title_short “Bad things happen [be]cause good people do nothing.” A study on how residents of Athlone and it's suburbs view their roles as bystanders
title_sort bad things happen be cause good people do nothing a study on how residents of athlone and it s suburbs view their roles as bystanders
topic Criminology, Law and Society
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37136
work_keys_str_mv AT geyerriyaaz badthingshappenbecausegoodpeopledonothingastudyonhowresidentsofathloneanditssuburbsviewtheirrolesasbystanders