By: Shaina Herman, Timothy C. Barnum, Suny Albany, Daniel S. Nagin, Sam Houston, Justin T. Pickett
The decision to intervene when witnessing a crime is central to understanding bystander behavior and social control, yet there remain large gaps in knowledge about the factors that shape the decision to intervene and how. Drawing on theories of reactive guardianship, procedural justice, and crime reporting, we propose a broader conceptual framework of reactive guardianship and bystander decision-making that considers both official (e.g., calling the police) and unofficial (e.g., confronting the offender) interventions. Using data from a national sample (












