The Bystander in Relation to the Victim and the Perpetrator: Today and During the Holocaust

Most of the social-psychological literature assumes that prosocial behavior is part of the basic human repertoire and only when certain conditions become unfavorable, will the natural prosocial tendency fail (Latane & Darley, 1970). Only few researchers have addressed the general tendency toward bystanding behavior,² its relation to perpetrating behavior, trying to overcome it in victimizing scenes by activating the bystander and thereby reducing the potential for victimization (Staub, 1996). The present analysis suggests several psychosocial constructs that can account for bystanding behavior. Several factors (such as length of exposure, fragmentation of the planning and execution of the crime) are highlighted—in order to differentiate between low, middle range and high-level bystanding behavior. Finally, ten examples of bystanding behavior during the Holocaust are presented, suggesting that only a careful analysis of the context and its interaction with the persons involved may help us work through and perhaps prevent the potential negative aspects of bystanding behavior in future criminal acts.     

科学理性、道德冷漠与现代性——鲍曼对现代性两副面孔的反思

齐格蒙·鲍曼通过对大屠杀的研究对现代性进行了深刻的反思。鲍曼认为，德国纳粹针对犹太人的大屠杀不仅仅是犹太人历史上的一个悲惨事件，也并非德意志民族的一次反常行为，而是现代性本身的固有可能。科学的理性计算精神、技术的道德中立地位、社会管理的工程化趋势，正是这些现代化的本质要素，使得像大屠杀这样灭绝人性的惨剧成为设计者、执行者和受害者密切合作的集体行动。从鲍曼对当代的历史和社会结构极为深刻的分析中，我们可以感受到后现代理论对政治和历史研究的巨大的冲击力。