SAPR QUICK
REFERENCE GUIDE
3/C PCA
Objectives
• Define bystander intervention and understand the factors
that may inhibit intervention from a bystander
• Define consent and understand how consent can be
obtained during sexual acts
• Understand social stereotypes of both men and women
and the pressure of social conformity
Bystander Intervention
• An individual or group of individuals (bystanders)
witness a situation between other people
developing that could turn into something bad or
dangerous, and the bystanders choose to act to
stop it from escalating any further (intervention)
• Internal Stages of Bystander Intervention
• Notice the event
• Interpret the event as a problem
• Determine whether or not you are responsible for dealing with the
problem
• Determine whether or not you have the skills and resources to act
• Act
Obstacles to Intervening
• We might not know the people involved in the potentially
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bad situation
We might not know how to intervene
Nobody else is doing anything, so it must not be a big
deal
We might not want to be rude or interrupt something we
don’t think is our business
We might not want our friends to be mad at us
We might not want to do it alone, someone else will do
something if it really is a dangerous situation
We might not think anything bad will really happen
Social Conformity
• Adherence to a group’s social patterns, standards or
expectations in order to fit in with the group
• Individual may internally disagree, but still conforms
regardless, in order to not “stand out” from the crowd
• Possible reasons for Social Conformity
• Individual thinks there’s a logical explanation for why everyone is
doing it
• Individual doesn’t want to be embarrassed for not following along
• Desire to fit in
• Individual sees a pattern of behavior in the group, and thinks that is
normal for the group, so chooses to comply and/or not change
social norms
Consent
• Everyone is fully conscious and aware
• Everyone is fully participating in the event
• There is no physical force, threat of force, or
fraud
Social Stereotypes – Men/Women
• Set of behaviors assigned to both men and women based
on assumptions for the entire gender rather than the
individuals
• There is social pressure for women and men to act a
certain way in order to fit in with the stereotypes assigned
to them
• Could be harmful to themselves or others
• Social consequences for not conforming