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Program Contents:  38 minute DVD

Captioning: Subtitled

Copyright Date: 2008

Initiate lectures and class dialogue with this cluster of ABC News segments on violence, aggressive behavior, and crime. In each scenario, actors draw unassuming spectators into tense and often disturbing situations—with a broad spectrum of results. Scenes include intense verbal bullying by three teen girls against one in a very public setting; a racially loaded incident in which three teenagers vandalize an automobile in broad daylight; the theft of a wallet in a crowded restaurant while some onlookers apparently couldn’t care less; and an occurrence of the shocking nationwide phenomenon known as bum-bashing, in which a homeless person is attacked for no apparent reason. Each scene is designed to provoke both introspection and group debate. 

1. When Girls Bully Girls (04:13) - In a simulation, teen girls bully another girl. Some people walk by and some intervene. Women predominantly reprimand the bullies, while most men pass by. Many women identify with their own earlier experiences with bullying.

2. Adult Intervention in Bullying Situations (03:07) - Actors posing as teen bullies act more aggressively and look more sinister. Will strangers intervene to help the victim of the bullying? The aggression seems to keep most people away. Those who do intervene tell the victim to get up and leave.

3. Public Vandalism: Who Will Intervene? (04:11) - Teen male actors simulate acts of public vandalism to see how strangers will react. After three hours of the public vandalism, a concerned citizen finally confronts the boys. "We're all in this together," he offers.

4. Black/White Issues and Crime (03:16) - Americans tend to associate black males with crime. A man notifies the police about three black males sleeping in a car, but he says they are "getting ready to rob someone."

5. Stereotypical Responses to Black Male Vandals (05:34) - Black male actors engage in public vandalism to see how the public will respond. Passersby immediately call 911 but do not confront the boys. In this social experiment, more people respond to black vandals than to white vandals.

6. Witnesses to Crime: Will They React? (03:54) - Witnesses observe a theft but seem paralyzed to react until the victim raises the alarm. When a man grabs a woman's purse, another woman is quick to react, mobilizing many other people to take action. Women tend to stick up for other women victims.

7. Public Intervention in Criminal Activity (02:50) - An elderly man approaches a purse snatcher. He tells police it did not occur to him to be afraid. In another simulation, an irate witness to a crime injures the actor/perpetrator. Experts advise witnesses to think first, and then act.

8. Attacks on Homeless People (03:17) - Hundreds of videos on the Internet show "bum-bashing," of violent acts perpetrated against the homeless. In a social experiment, actors beat up a homeless man/actor to see if witnesses will intervene.

9. Intervention in Emergency Situations (02:10) - When young, black males/actors with a baseball bat beat up an old man, a woman chastises them. In this social experiment, people intervened because the weapon signaled an emergency that demanded immediate action.

10. Defenders of Society's Vulnerable Populations (03:48) - Will pedestrians intervene when young males/actors attack a homeless woman? An angry crowd assembles because they perceive the victim to be vulnerable. People are empowered by a sense of communion in defending the less fortunate.