The Reaction to Rape by American Male Bystanders

The present study simulated a rape in a realistic natural setting. The topography of the location ensured that the subjects, men walking to their adjacent parked cars, had but one of the following three options: to walk away, to intervene directly, or to intervene indirectly by summoning a police officer. Intervention was more frequent by groups of bystanders than by individual bystanders and was over- whelmingly of the direct kind. The results are discussed in terms of contemporary findings from laboratory and field research.