Bystander Intervention to Prevent Radicalisation

Abstract

The literature is replete with striking cases of individuals who have witnessed signs of radicalisation to violence but failed to report or intervene. A review of literature reveals cases of such bystander behaviour such as the 2009 Fort Hood attack, where Nidal Hassan’s colleagues noticed a drastic change in his worldview (McKinley & Dao, 2009), and the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting where the wife of Omar Mateen knew about her husband’s intention to commit the attack (Tacopino, 2018). In both cases, reports suggest that the individuals in question failed to intervene. The drastic consequences and the nature of the bystanders’ non-reporting behaviours have continued to perplex authorities and raised new