Tools For Change:How Bystanders Can Help Sustain

More Diverse and Inclusive Environments

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our

friends.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Facilitators:Joshua J. NelsonZara H. Nizami

Introduction: Warm-Up Exercise

Who is a bystander?

Why are we here?

Dimensions of Change

The Bystander Effect

Bystander Intervention

Bystander Strategies

Bystander role and me

Active Bystanders: A tool for change

Closing reflection

Agenda

Stand up if you…Speak more than one language fluentlyGrew up with grandparents living in your homeHave participated in a diversity training in the pastHave been known to watch: American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Real Housewives, or other reality showsPlayed organized sports while growing upConsider yourself an extrovertWere the first person in your family to go to collegeGrew up someplace other than MassachusettsConsider yourself the majority

Introductions: Who is in the room?

What is a Bystander?

- Anyone who witnesses offensive or hurtful behavior- A person who is present at an event or incident but

does not take part

“Mount Holyoke College reaffirms its commitment to educating a diverse residential community of women at the highest level of academic excellence and to fostering the alliance of liberal arts education with a purposeful engagement in the world.”

Why are we here?

Dimensions Of Change

Internal

Relationship with yourself

Institutional

Relationships between decision

making and resource

allocation roles

MISSION

Cultural

Relationships across cultures and worldviews

Interpersonal

Relationship

Between

individuals

Scenario…

HARM-DOER

BYSTANDER

TARGET

The new Focus!

• An active bystander is a(n).. – Ally

– Leaner

– Friend

– Facilitator

– Humble questioner

– Stakeholder

– Mediator

– Concerned party

• An active bystander is not a(n)…– Judge

– Avenger

– Rescuer

– Enforcer

– Fixer

– Hero/Heroine

– Final Authority

– Know-It-All

– Educator

– Activist

A Bystander is/is not

The Bystander Effect:Kitty Genovese

Who is this woman?

“The bystander effect or Genovese syndrome is a phenomenon that refers to cases where individuals do not offer any means of help in an emergency situation to the victim when other people are present”

The Bystander Effect:Kitty Genovese

Latane and Darley conducted an experiment in 1969 in which subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire and smoke started to fill the room…

Bystander Intervention Experiment

Bibb Latane and John Darley:Bystander Intervention

Diffusion of Responsibility

Fear

Loss of respect

Ease

Comradeship

Silent disapproval

Vulnerability

Overreaction

Uncertainty – FREEZE!

Typical Bystander Reaction

Inclusion

Discovery

Cooling Things Down

Heating Things Up

Body Language/Signaling

Bystander Strategies

Invite someone to the conversation

Be an ally for someone taking a risk

Ask for the opinions of someone who has been quiet

Bystander Strategies: Inclusion

Ask for clarification

Check assumptions

Suggest getting more info

Bystander Strategies: Discovery

Ask for a break

Humor

Bystander Strategies: Cooling Things Down

Emotions surfacing

Expressing how the situation is making you feel

Point out the elephant in the room

Bystander Strategies: Heating Things Up

Stand Up / Turn Away

Raise your hand

Laugh, lean forward, touch the table, interrupt the flow

Say “ouch”

Bystander Strategies: Body Language/Signaling

Racism In America

Fallen Customer?

WWYD:What Would YOU Do?

Reflect on a time when you….

Wish you had been an active bystander?

Wished that an active bystander had spoken up?

*Write down the scenario on an index card

The Bystander Role and Me

IndividuallyCheck in with parties “off-line”Call ombuds office or other resourcesContinue your work

CollectivelyWork with employee affinity groupsEncourage participation and inclusivityAttend additional training

SystematicallyChange policies and practicesAdd the bystander role not only to trainings but to everyday conversations

Be An Active Bystander

What helps you be a bystander?

What gets in the way?

What helps?

Notice that a situation has happened

Interpret it as a situation where help is needed

Assume personal responsibility

Decide what to do

Just do it!!!

Antidote to Bystander Apathy: Civil Courage

“First they come for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they come for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Unionist

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me”

-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Closing Words: Speaking Out