The key to leadership today is influence, not authority
- Many people fail to report suspicious observations and behaviour.
- Bystanders often underestimate the frequency and appropriateness of reporting red flags.
- Correcting misperceptions enhances reporting behaviour.
- Community education helping people recognise harm, enhances reporting behaviour.
Many of us will have heard of the message “If You See Something, Say Something” used on the UK rail network. Many in policing often encourage members of the public to report suspicious behaviour. Despite these messages several key challenges remain around public involvement in harmful situations.
Some of us just don’t want to get involved in another’s business. Fear also remains a major issue. Both often lead to many pre-incident indicators and red flags being witnessed but not reported. If people didn’t feel fear, they wouldn’t be able to protect themselves from legitimate threats. Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger that has been pivotal throughout human evolution, but especially in ancient times when men and women regularly faced life-or-death situations. It’s a normal response to a stressful situation that many simply ignore.
When we are faced with a situation involving strangers it’s a physical fear, a fear of getting physically hurt. When it comes to our peers, it’s a different type of fear, its social. Nonetheless the fear of consequence is deeply destructive. Whilst you might not fear getting attacked by a friend, you might fear losing them, being ridiculed by them, or being isolated by them. In a workplace you might be considered disloyal if you intervene.
Thankfully, research reveals potential ways of increasing bystander reporting. When we better activate our bystanders we help reduce the impact of harm.
The biggest influence on individual behaviours is often influenced by those around us. This is also true in our willingness to report suspicious behaviour. One setting that has increased intervention is on college/university campuses. Academics often report better bystander intervention in preventing sexual violence on college campuses can result from correcting misperceptions of social norms, which in turn increases an individual’s willingness to intervene.
A past study also revealed that male college students overestimated the extent to which their peers subscribed to myths justifying rape and underestimated the extent to which peers were willing to intervene. Education about how uncomfortable their peers really felt about sexually inappropriate actions directed toward women encouraged their willingness to report behaviours they viewed as problematic (Berkowitz, 2010).
The same was found during studies in the US on bullying among school students which revealed that when misperceptions were corrected regarding the frequency and reporting of problem behaviours, students were more willing to report concerning behaviour to parents as well as their teachers.
So, misperceiving norms about the prevalence or responsibility of reporting behaviours related to the possibility of public violence may decrease the willingness of bystanders to report behaviour to the authorities. This is because, people watch and consider the beliefs and behaviours of others to ascertain what is “normal.” So better knowing what others think helps individuals to become active.
The whole premise of ‘That Guy Scotland’ was to help correct misperceptions that men have on sexual harassment. Many men are deeply uncomfortable when they hear their male peers using disrespectful language about women. The issue is that unless they better understand what other peers really feel, the misperceptions lead to inaction and in some cases joining in with the actual harmful behaviour. That Guy provided tools and strategies to help men do more. The reality is men want to be doing more.
So, when it comes to bystander reporting, education promotes reporting, inspiring individuals to protect themselves as well as their communities.
Such an approach can also help organisations who are trying to address problematic behaviours. We must move from simply telling people not to behave badly to helping them better understand what other people are thinking and what they want them to do.
Makes sense don’t you think?
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