Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:44:39.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Bystanders’ Crime Reporting Decisions

from Part II - Pretrial Phase Decision-Making

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2024

By
Matthew P. West  and
Melissa Rorie
Edited by
Monica K. Miller ,
Logan A. Yelderman ,
Matthew T. Huss  and
Jason A. Cantone
Monica K. Miller
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Logan A. Yelderman
Affiliation:
Prairie View A & M University, Texas
Matthew T. Huss
Affiliation:
Creighton University, Omaha
Jason A. Cantone
Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia
Get access

Summary

Studies and victimization surveys suggest that many, if not most, crimes are not reported to legal authorities. This is problematic because: (1) legal authorities are unable to address crimes they are unaware of, and victim or bystander reporting is the primary route by which authorities are made aware of crimes; and (2) people’s willingness to report crimes is an indicator of the public’s willingness to cooperate with legal authorities, which has long been noted as necessary for an effective criminal justice system in democratic societies. Academic attention to the role of bystanders was catalyzed largely by the story surrounding the assault and murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City in the 1960s, which elicited the question of why bystanders fail to report crimes. This chapter is about situational and bystander characteristics that relate to bystander decisions to report crime and provide information to legal authorities. It identifies gaps in the literature and proposes directions for future research.

Keywords

bystandercrime reportingpublic cooperationthird-partywitnesswhistleblowerdecision-making
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Legal Decision-Making , pp. 86 - 102
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, F. (2002). Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect: Does it really make a difference? Child and Family Social Work, 7, 57–63. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2206.2002.00228.x.Google Scholar
Andon, P., Free, C., Jidin, R., Monroe, G. S., & Turner, M. J. (2018). The impact of financial incentives and perceptions of seriousness on whistleblowing intention. Journal of Business Ethics, 151, 165–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3215-6.Google Scholar
Associated Press. (2021). Woman raped on train as bystanders did nothing, police say. AP News, October 12. https://apnews.com/article/business-arrests-pennsylvania-philadelphia-1d0c62ae547165eabfc40fc6a20f25be.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F, & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497.Google Scholar
Bennett, S., Banyard, V. L., & Edwards, K. M. (2017). The impact of bystander’s relationship with the victim and perpetrator on intent to help in situations involving sexual violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(5), 682–702. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515586373.Google Scholar
Berger, L., Perreault, S., & Wainberg, J. (2017). Hijacking the moral imperative: How financial incentives can discourage whistleblower reporting. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 36(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-51663.Google Scholar
Bickman, L., & Helwig, H. (1979). Bystander reporting of crime: The impact of incentives. Criminology, 17(3), 283–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1979.tb01295.x.Google Scholar
Booker, B. (2020, October 14). White woman who called police on black bird-watcher allegedly made a second 911 call. NPR. www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/10/14/923695262/woman-who-called-police-on-black-bird-watcher-allegedly-made-a-second-911-call.Google Scholar
Carson, J. V., & Politte, H. (2021). Implicit bias within public reporting: A virtual reality experiment examining “suspicious” activity. Crime & Delinquency, 67(12), 2135–2162. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128720981897.Google Scholar
Children’s Bureau. (2019). Penalties for the failure to report and false reporting of child abuse and neglect. www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/report.pdf.Google Scholar
Children’s Bureau. (2021). Child maltreatment 2019. www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/child-maltreatment-2019.Google Scholar
Clayman, S., & Skinns, L. (2012). To snitch or not to snitch? An exploratory study of the factors influencing whether young people actively cooperate with the police. Policing and Society, 22(4), 460–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2011.641550.Google Scholar
Crandall, C. S. & Eshleman, A. (2003). A justification-suppression model of the expression and experience of prejudice. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 414–446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.414.Google Scholar
Crandall, C. S., Ferguson, M. A., & Bahns, A. J. (2013). When we see prejudice: The normative window and social change. In Stangor, C. & Crandall, C. S. (Eds.), Stereotyping and prejudice (pp. 53–70). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Crime Stoppers USA (n.d.). Website. www.crimestoppersusa.org/profile/.Google Scholar
Dario, L. M., Fradella, H. F., Verhagen, M., & Parry, M. M. (2020). Assessing LGBT people’s perceptions of police legitimacy. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(7), 885–915. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2018.1560127.Google Scholar
Davies, M. L., Gilhooly, M. L. M., Gilhooly, K. J., Harries, P. A., & Cairns, P. (2013). Factors influencing decision-making by social care and health sector professionals in cases of elder financial abuse. European Journal of Ageing, 10, 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-013-0279-3.Google Scholar
Deitch-Stackhouse, J., Kenneavy, K., Thayer, R., Berkowitz, A., & Mascari, J. (2015). The influence of social norms on advancement through bystander stages for preventing interpersonal violence. Violence Against Women, 21(10), 1284–1307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215592720.Google Scholar
Diekmann, A. (1985). Volunteer’s dilemma. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 29(4), 605–610. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393335.Google Scholar
Diekmann, A., & Przepiorka, W. (2016). “Take one for the team!”: Individual heterogeneity and the emergence of latent norms in a volunteer’s dilemma. Social Forces, 94(3), 1309–1333. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sov107.Google Scholar
Ellis, R., & Krupa, M. (2017, March 21). Dylann Roof friend sentenced to 27 months in prison. CNN. www.cnn.com/2017/03/21/us/joey-meek-sentencing-dylann-roof-charleston/index.html.Google Scholar
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2020). Crime in the United States, 2019. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019.Google Scholar
Feldman, Y., & Lobel, O. (2010). The incentives matrix: The comparative effectiveness of rewards, liabilities, duties, and protections for reporting illegality. Texas Law Review, 88(6), 1151–1211.Google Scholar
Felson, R. B., Messner, S. F., & Hoskin, A. (1999). The victim-offender relationship and calling the police in assaults. Criminology, 37(4), 931–947. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1999.tb00510.x.Google Scholar
Felson, R. B., & Paré, P. (2005). The reporting of domestic violence and sexual assault by nonstrangers to police. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 597–610. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00156.x.Google Scholar
Fischer, P., Krueger, J. I, Greitemeyer, T., et al. (2011). The bystander-effect: A meta-analytic review on bystander intervention in dangerous and non-dangerous emergencies. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 517–537. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023304.Google Scholar
Galvin, M. A., & Safer-Lichtenstein, A. (2018). Same question, different answers: Theorizing victim and third party decisions to report crime to the police. Justice Quarterly, 35(6), 1073–1104. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2017.1353123.Google Scholar
Haidt, J., & Joseph, C. (2007). The moral mind: How five sets of innate intuitions guide the development of many culture-specific virtues, and perhaps even modules. In Carruthers, P., Laurence, S., & Stich, S. (Eds.), The innate mind (Vol. 3, pp. 367–392). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Harries, P., Davies, M., Gilhooly, K., Gilhooly, M., & Tomlinson, C. (2014). Educating novice practitioners to detect elder financial abuse: A randomised controlled trial. BMC Medical Education, 14(21). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-14-21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, T. C., & Miethe, T. C. (2008). Exploring bystander presence and intervention in nonfatal violent victimization: When does helping really help? Violence and Victims, 23(5), 637–651. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.23.5.637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jost, J. T., & van der Toorn, J. (2012). System justification theory. In Van Lange, P. A. M., Kruglanski, A. W., & Higgins, E. T. T. (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 371–401). Sage.Google Scholar
Katz, J., Pazienza, R., Olin, R., & Rich, O. (2015). That’s what friends are for: Bystander responses to friends or strangers at risk for party rape victimization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(16), 2775–2792. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514554290.Google Scholar
Kearns, E. M., Ashooh, E., & Lowrey-Kinberg, B. (2020). Racial differences in conceptualizing legitimacy and trust in police. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45, 190–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-019-09501-8.Google Scholar
Kidd, R. F. (1979). Crime reporting: Toward a social psychological model. Criminology, 17(3), 380–394. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1979.tb01303.x.Google Scholar
LaFree, G., & Adamczyk, A. (2017). The impact of the Boston marathon bombings on public willingness to cooperate with police. Justice Quarterly, 34(3), 459–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2016.1181780.Google Scholar
Lankford, A., Adkins, K. G., & Madfis, E. (2019). Are the deadliest mass shootings preventable? An assessment of leakage, information reported to law enforcement, and firearms acquisition prior to attacks in the United States. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 35(3), 315–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986219840231.Google Scholar
Larson, R. P. (2015). Witness participation in the criminal justice system: Perceptions of the legitimacy of police and the reporting of crime (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1zc3q6zgorg.Google Scholar
Latané, B., & Darley, J. M. (1970). The unresponsive bystander: Why doesn’t he help? Appleton–Century Crofts.Google Scholar
Lentz, S. A., & Chaires, R. H. (2007). The invention of Peel’s principles: A study of policing “textbook” history. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(1), 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.11.016.Google Scholar
Linning, S. J., & Barnes, J. C. (2020). Third-party crime reporting: Examining the effects of perceived social cohesion and confidence in police effectiveness. Journal of Crime and Justice, 45(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2020.1856706.Google Scholar
Lipman, F. D. (2012). Whistleblowers: Incentives, disincentives, and protection strategies. Wiley.Google Scholar
Madfis, E. (2014). Averting school rampage: Student intervention amid a persistent code of silence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 12(3), 229–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204013497768.Google Scholar
Manning, R., Levine, M., & Collins, A. (2007). The Kitty Genovese murder and the social psychology of helping: The parable of the 38 witnesses. American Psychologist, 62(6), 555–562. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.6.555.Google Scholar
McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 US 279, 107 S. Ct. 1756, 95 L. Ed. 2d 262 (1987).Google Scholar
Morgan, R. E., & Thompson, A. (2021). Criminal victimization, 2020 (Report No. NCJ 301775). Bureau of Justice Statistics.Google Scholar
Murphy, K., Hinds, L., & Fleming, J. (2008). Encouraging public cooperation and support for police. Policing & Society, 18(2), 136–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439460802008660.Google Scholar
Osborne, D., & Davies, P. G. (2014). Crime type, perceived stereotypicality, and memory biases: A contextual model of eyewitness identification. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 392–402. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3009.Google Scholar
Papp, J., Smith, B., Wareham, J., & Wu, Y. (2019). Fear of retaliation and citizen willingness to cooperate with police. Policing and Society, 29(6), 623–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2017.1307368.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center (2021, April 7). Mobile fact sheet. www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/.Google Scholar
Philpot, R., Liebst, L. S., Levine, M., Bernasco, W., & Lindengaard, M. R. (2020). Would I be helped? Cross-national CCTV footage shows that intervention is the norm in public conflicts. American Psychologist, 75, 66–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000469.Google Scholar
Pound, R. (1964). The causes of popular dissatisfaction with the administration of justice. Crime & Delinquency, 10(4), 355–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/001112876401000403 (reprinted from the Transactions of the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, 1906).Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, D. P., Lurigio, A. J., & Lavrakas, P. J. (1989). Enhancing citizen participation and solving serious crime: A national evaluation of crime stoppers programs. Crime & Delinquency, 35(3), 401–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128789035003006.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, A. M. (1999). Thirty-eight witnesses. University of California Press. (Original work published 1964.)Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5328.918.Google Scholar
Schein, C., & Gray, K. (2018). The theory of dyadic morality: Reinventing moral judgment and redefining harm. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22(1), 32–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868317698288.Google Scholar
Shatz, S. F., & Shatz, N. R. (2011). Chivalry is not dead: Murder, gender, and the death penalty. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, 27, 64–112.Google Scholar
Silver, J. (2020). Space between concern and crime: Two recommendations for promoting the adoption of the threat assessment model and encouraging bystander reporting. Criminology & Public Policy, 19, 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12474.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G., & Antunes, G. E. (1979). Information, apprehension, and deterrence: Exploring the limits of police productivity. Journal of Criminal Justice, 7, 217–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2352(79)90040-0.Google Scholar
Slocum, L. A., Taylor, T. J., Brick, B. T., & Esbensen, F. (2010). Neighborhood structural characteristics, individual-level attitudes, and youths’ crime reporting intentions. Criminology, 48(4), 1063–1100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00212.x.Google Scholar
Slocum, L. A., & Wiley, S. A. (2018). “Experience of the expected?” Race and ethnicity differences in the effects of police contact on youth. Criminology, 56(2), 402–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12174.Google Scholar
Stylianou, S. (2003). Measuring crime seriousness perceptions: What have we learned and what else do we want to know. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31(1), 37–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(02)00198-8.Google Scholar
Tankebe, J. (2009). Public cooperation with the police in Ghana: Does procedural fairness matter? Criminology, 47(4), 1265–1293. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00175.x.Google Scholar
Tankebe, J. (2013). Viewing things differently: The dimensions of public perceptions of police legitimacy. Criminology, 51(1), 103–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00291.x.Google Scholar
Tapia, M. (2010). Untangling race and class effects on juvenile arrests. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.03.002.Google Scholar
Tyler, T. R. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, T. R., & Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy and cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities? Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 6, 231–275.Google Scholar
Tyler, T. R., & Jackson, J. (2014). Popular legitimacy and the exercise of legal authority: Motivating compliance, cooperation and engagement. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 20, 78–95. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034514.Google Scholar
Tyler, T. R., & Trinkner, R. (2017). Why children follow rules: Legal socialization and the development of legitimacy. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
van Rooij, B., & Fine, A. D. (2020). Preventing corporate crime from within: Compliance management, whistleblowing, and internal monitoring. In Rorie, M. (Ed.), The handbook of white‐collar crime (pp. 229–245). Wiley.Google Scholar
Warner, B. D. (2007). Directly intervene or call the authorities? A study of forms of neighborhood social control within a social disorganization framework. Criminology, 45, 99–129. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00073.x.Google Scholar
Weiss, K. G. (2021). Crime witness accounts. Theoretical Criminology, 25(4), 663–681. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480620918326.Google Scholar
Wellford, C., & Cronin, J. (2000). Clearing up homicide clearance rates. National Institute of Justice Journal, 243, 1–7. www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/jr000243b.pdf.Google Scholar
Whitman, J. L., & Davis, R. C. (2007). Snitches get stitches: Youth, gangs, and witness intimidation in Massachusetts. National Center for Victims of Crime.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×