Many of us when faced with a challenging situation would hope we could do something to help someone in need, especially when that person is a friend, colleague or neighbour. The reality is, for a number of reasons, that bit more complicated.

A number of ‘invisible’ forces, psychological and social, exist that can prevent us from helping or responding safely, when faced with a challenging, or dangerous situations. These forces lead us to feelings of confusion, distraction, even insecurity.

When these forces appear, the presence of inactive others can influence us to simply watch, to wait and so become bystanders ourselves. In many cases these forces lead to us either ignoring danger or not lending a hand to another person, even a friend.

This is the bystander effect.

At the end of the training individuals will be able to:

Discuss the roles of bystanders in the prevention of violence

Describe the bystander effect and other inhibitors to bystander intervention.

Identify a range of safe options available to bystanders to safely support/challenge others.

Discuss the extent of domestic abuse in our communities.

Discuss the term domestic abuse in all its forms

Respond to a person who discloses domestic abuse.

There continues to be a stigma around Domestic Abuse within our communities. Furthermore, the impact on children experiencing domestic abuse in their homes is being played out on our streets. In many ways there will never be peace on our streets until we have peace in the home.

It is clear that society still sees this form of violence as a private issue. It is known that domestic violence takes place in many settings with ‘red flags’ often in plain sight.

There is a clear role for friends, colleagues, and neighbours to support victims and help create a society that communicates to perpetrators that their behaviours are totally unacceptable.

About your trainer:

Cultivating Minds UK was developed by Graham Goulden, simply to create much needed conversations around issues that can impact negatively on learning, on business and sports success. Graham Goulden, BA, is an experienced and committed leadership and violence prevention trainer. For thirty years he was a Scottish police officer and Chief Investigator specialising in criminal investigation, drug investigation, training and crime prevention.

For the last eight years of policing career he was a Chief Inspector and a key member of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. Respected across the world for its work in reducing violence, this innovative organisation brought a new approach to an age-old problem. It was during this time that Graham was able to put right what had become an occurring issue for him during his policing career.

Often, when interviewing people who had witnessed abuse and violence, Graham was met with the words, “I knew something was going to happen”. His work now supports him to develop approaches and programmes that help create conditions where good people can do good things when faced with challenging situations.

https://youtu.be/hoBnz3Md6ag

Kingston Bystander Training