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Situational Cues and Crime Reporting: Do Signs Make a Difference? 1
Author(s) -
Bickman Leonard,
Green Susan K.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1977.tb02413.x
Subject(s) - situational ethics , psychology , interpersonal communication , intervention (counseling) , social psychology , bystander effect , field (mathematics) , applied psychology , psychiatry , mathematics , pure mathematics
Two field studies were conducted to assess the effect of signs describing how to report a shoplifting on bystander intervention to a staged theft. In the first study, signs providing directions and one of three rationales for reporting had a small effect on attitudes toward reporting and no effect on intervention. In the second study, a definition of the situation as a shoplifting by a confederate had a strong influence on subjects reporting, but presence or absence of signs describing how to report had no impact. Differences between interpersonal and nonpersonal influences are described, and implications for informational campaigns to increase crime reporting are discussed.