Copy of Ladder of Prejudice

BYSTANDER EFFECT?

• The term bystander effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress.
• When an emergency situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if there are few or no other witnesses.

RESCUER

less than 5%

1. What percentage of people today play the role of bystander when a decision has to be made?

2. Make a list of the kinds of actions, words, problems, that you’ve witnessed in the last few years.

3. Choose one of these. Were you a bystander, perpetrator, or rescuer? If you could change your role, what would you change it to?

VICTIM

PERPETRATOR

about 10%

BYSTANDER

about 85%

With your group, make an educated guess about what roles people chose to take during the Holocaust.

• What percentage of people chose to be perpetrators?
• What percentage of people chose to be rescuers?
• What percentage of people chose to be bystanders?

What is the Bystander Effect?

Prejudice: Preconceived opinion not based on reason or experience.

Just think….“pre-judge”

RESCUER

WHAT ABOUT TODAY?

VICTIM

PERPETRATOR

WARM UP:

BYSTANDER

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE?

• Take a few minutes and think about a time when you have been a part of a step on the ladder – whether you were a bystander, a victim, or someone discriminating against someone else.
• Keep in mind your group discussions as you choose your experience.
• Once you have chosen an experience, write it on your post-it note and place it on the rung of the ladder it belongs on.

It is important to understand that all the other individuals were in a position to choose the role they wished to follow in the Holocaust. People chose to be either perpetrators, rescuers, or bystanders.

Directions: In the space below please use what you know about the Holocaust to create a Ladder of Prejudice. Write examples for each step in the ladder. Make sure to explain how one step leads to another. Be prepared to share.

VICTIM

In the study of the Holocaust, scholars have identified four key roles that defined human behavior at this time: victim, perpetrator, bystander, and rescuer.

Fill in the squares based on your own life experience.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Rescuer

Bystander

Perpetrator

European Jews, along with other people who were considered “not good enough to live among Hitler’s Aryan people,” were targeted with death during the Holocaust. These people were victims and although innocent, they had no choice regarding their selection to be persecuted.

1. List the reasons you think people chose the roles they did during the Holocaust:

2. What lessons can we gain from learning about the Holocaust and the ladder of prejudice?

While the realities of the Holocaust cannot be compared to everyday experiences of pain, camaraderie, suffering, or even death, we can use our study of the Holocaust to take a closer look at our individual choices and responsibility to our society.

THE END!