Have you ever chosen to intervene in a difficult situation? A 国产视频 academic has launched a new project that seeks to collect people鈥檚 stories of bystander intervention.
Dr Gill Harrop explains the Bystander Stories Project at the Active Bystander Week on campus
Whether they were the person that intervened to help or the one who benefited from such an intervention, Dr Gill Harrop, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology, is now asking for the public’s help in capturing these stories.
Bystander intervention is about noticing a problematic situation and making the decision to get involved – being an active bystander. The project aims to learn more about how active bystandership has impacted the lives of others, by collecting real-life stories and accounts. This includes examples of when people have stepped in to help someone, and when they have been helped themselves by an active bystander. Examples include calling an ambulance for someone taken ill in the street, challenging sexist comments in a WhatsApp group or stepping in to check if someone is okay who is being harassed on a train.
The project is being led by Dr Harrop, who also leads the University’s Bystander Intervention Programme. She said. “We’ve had already had some great examples of helping behaviour shared with us by University staff and students, and we’re now reaching out to ask members of the community to share their bystander stories with the project in order to collect as many examples as possible.”
The project, which feeds into work the University has been doing in this field for nearly a decade, will run for 12 months. People can contribute anonymously and share their story using the online form. The bystander stories will then be collated and shared in an online collection and exhibition to demonstrate the many different ways that people can intervene in to help others.
The Bystander Stories Project was launched as part of an Active Bystander Week, held on campus in conjunction with Worcester Students' Union, which aimed to raise awareness of what we can all do to recognise and challenge problematic behaviour safely and confidently.
Running across the University’s campuses, organisers put on the week of events and activities designed to equip staff and students with the skills and confidence to become ‘active bystanders’.
The Week was integrated with academic programmes, helping students to see how active bystander skills link to their professional standards and qualifications.
Dr Harrop said: “Developing bystandership skills in students helps to proactively develop a positive campus community, where people feel confident and knowledgeable about how to step in if they encounter problematic behaviour. The beauty of active bystandership is that everyone can do it, simply by choosing to step in and help.”
Members of the public can share their bystander story with the Bystander Stories Project through the .
The Active Bystander podcast is available on Amazon Music and Spotify, and also on the .