The Ongoing PSU Scandal: Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers

I have taught classes on genocide at MSU for the past three years. One of these courses (“The Criminology of Genocide”) satisfies a general education requirement in social science, and I try very hard to impart to the students how studying the process of genocide can help them to understand the world around them.

As part of this effort, a substantial portion of all of my genocide courses focus on the behaviors of three groups of people:

Perpetrators: individuals who commit crimes during genocide, whether they play the role of a leader (in class we call these the “big bads”: Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, etc.) or those who commit murder, rape, theft, or a multitude of other small crimes during genocides.

Bystanders: individuals who do nothing. They standby and watch events unfold around them but do not become engaged in the violence—neither do they take action to stop or speak out against violence.

Rescuers: Those people who take extraordinary action to help those victimized in genocide. Many famous individuals are members of this group, including Paul Rusesabagina (“Hotel Rwanda”), Oscar Schindler (“Schindler’s List”) and Corrie ten Boom (while not well-known in the U.S., Corrie and her family helped dozens of Dutch Jews escape the Nazis).

While it’s quite easy to identify perpetrators and rescuers, there aren’t many names listed as famous “bystanders”. This certainly makes sense—we remember individuals for their actions (both good and bad), not their inactions.

It’s important to note that failure to act to stop a crime is itself criminal in some states. These types of laws were famously portrayed in the final episode of the sitcom Seinfeld, in which the main characters are incarcerated for failing to stop a robbery (and in fact, laughing about the weight of the victim).

When the Penn State scandal broke earlier this month, I spent time talking to my students about the alleged perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers in this case. Based on the grand jury testimony, there appears to be one “big bad” perpetrator: Jerry Sandusky, accused of sexually molesting and raping at least eight young boys during his tenure at Penn State (with more victims apparently coming forward, one of whom is a family member).

What about the bystanders? Are they (and should they be) criminally liable? According to their lawyers, they met their due diligence by reporting the issue to supervisors, but who was legally mandated to call the police or child protective services?

As far as I can tell, there were no rescuers in this case. No one had the best interest of the child victims in mind, as far as we’ve heard so far.

Of course, while it is easy to point fingers after the fact, scholars have long recognized that it is easier to be a bystander than a rescuer. Our social norms of non-interference and conformity keep most of us from being rescuers. For example, Paul Rusesabagina put himself and his family at enormous risk by hiding Tutsi refugees in his hotel—how many of us would take that action, realistically? How many of us would risk our own lives—our CHILDREN’S lives—to help strangers? In a sense, it’s abnormal behavior.

However, while we may hesitate to do the right thing in the spur of the moment, we must realize that it’s never too late to call and report suspected criminal activity to the police.

If there is any positive aspect to the Penn State fiasco, perhaps people in similar roles who might otherwise act as bystanders take action and rescue those in need.