Essay: Psychological research on the “bystander effect” can help explain why police took so long to confront a school shooter in Uvalde, Texas.
Psychology can help explain why law enforcement officers in Uvalde took so long to confront a school shooter
Officers are held back from the classroom occupied by the shooter at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 24.Catherine A. SandersonAs a mom, I was horrified to watch video from the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, showing dozens of law enforcement officers waiting 77 minutes to confront the gunman. But as a social psychologist who studies the bystander effect, I found their inaction sadly easy to understand.
One factor explaining the long delay was clearly fear of the consequences of intervening, especially after the shooter fired on the officers who initially responded. According to a model developed in the early 1980s by psychologist John Dovidio and colleagues, before deciding to act, people conduct a subconscious cost-benefit analysis. If the benefits outweigh the costs, we help; if the costs outweigh the benefits, we don’t.
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