Exploring the difference between red and amber flags in relation to behaviour, and the importance of bystanders recognising and addressing them.
It can be helpful to tackle low-level problematic behaviours before they escalate to more serious ones.Bystanders can play an important role in recognising and challenging low-level problematic behaviours.
Picture the scene – you’re in the cinema, ready to watch the next instalment of your favourite film franchise. As the opening credits roll, the person behind you starts talking loudly on their phone and kicking the back of your seat. How do you feel? And more specifically, are you bothered by their behaviour? The likelihood is that you’re extremely bothered – they’re disrupting your cinema experience. But what about if they were just whispering on their phone, or if the seat kicking was just an occasional tap? Or maybe they move to be closer to their friend, and now it’s not your seat that’s being kicked anymore, it’s someone else's a few seats down. Are you still bothered?The type of things that we notice and are bothered by affects the way that we respond to the world around us. Berkowitz noted that if we personally find a particular behaviour bothersome, we’re more likely to notice when it happens and take action to address it.someone must be by something for them to regularly intervene. They found that there was a significant step up in willingness to intervene when people went from being ‘moderately bothered’ by a situation to ‘very bothered’. Essentially, we have to think that something is pretty bad in order for us to consistently notice it and think about intervening. This works reasonably well when behaviours do meet that ‘bothering’ threshold, such as someone committing assault or stealing another person’s property. These behaviours would be considered problematic to most people, usually generating a response of “this is not okay and someone should do something”. In a traffic light system, of red, amber and green, these would be considered red behaviours i.e. clearly problematic.The traffic light analogy is a useful way to consider a range of possible behaviours across a spectrum of how problematic they are. In 2014, Brook adapted a traffic light tool from Family Planning Queensland to reflect the spectrum of behaviours in young people from unacceptable ‘red’ behaviours, such asharassment, to more acceptable ‘green’ behaviours, such as mutually consensual hugging with peers. Essentially, green behaviours are considered safe and healthy, while red behaviours are not. But what about the amber behaviours that do not fall neatly into either red or green? Hackett suggests that amber behaviours are those that have the potential to fall outside of safe and healthy behaviours, but are not yet serious enough to be considered red behaviours. These 'amber flags' can be affected by a range of factors, including context, age, and the vulnerability of those concerned. This can make it much more challenging to notice and correctly identify these behaviours when they happen. They can also generate a lower level of ‘bother’, resulting in little or no action being taken . There are two options for responding to this challenge from the perspective of preventing problematic behaviour: focus on addressing only the red behaviours and accept that amber behaviours are often going to be overlooked or increase awareness of amber behaviours and encourage a culture where people are more bothered by them, so they are more likely to notice and intervene.The argument for the second option is that red and amber behaviours are not separate entities. They are intrinsically linked, and a healthy culture does not include either type of behaviour, therefore increasing awareness and ‘bother’ towards amber behaviours is an important part of the prevention of violence and abuse. Steven Connell’s powerful spoken work piece ‘We Are The Lions’ includes the observation that there is often is a link between the things that we don’t have a problem with, and the things that we do, which speaks to the idea that people can often ignore or ‘shrug off’ amber behaviours as they are not deemed to be bad enough, failing to recognise that they can contribute to a culture of red behaviours. For example, someonewhen their friend shares a sexist WhatsApp message may not feel like a big deal – they may justify it by saying it’s just a joke or that it’s not serious enough to result in any consequences for the sender . The reality, however, is that it does matter and it should still be tackled. So perhaps the important question should be – where is the line? What would it take for that person to stop brushing it off and meet Deitch-Stackhouse et al.’s threshold of being ‘very bothered’ – when a specific person was named in the message? When the sexist ‘jokes’ were made in front of others? When female friends leave a night out early because they feel so uncomfortable with the sexist ‘banter’? There has to be a line somewhere, and in order to a achieve a culture where problematic behaviour is not tolerated, the noticing and feeling bothered enough to actstart with the amber behaviours rather than waiting for the red. And the responsibility for that lies with all of us.Berkowitz, A. D. . Fostering healthy norms to prevent violence and abuse: The social norms approach.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IeCkXJ6ppE Deitch-Stackhouse J, Kenneavy K, Thayer R, Berkowitz A, Mascari J. The Influence of Social Norms on Advancement Through Bystander Stages for Preventing Interpersonal Violence. Violence Against Women. 2015 Oct;21:1284-307Children behaving badly? Peer violence between children and young peopleis a criminal psychologist specializing in the use of active bystandership and psychological strategies to address problematic relationship behaviour and tackle crime.Self Tests are all about you. Are you outgoing or introverted? Are you a narcissist? Does perfectionism hold you back? Find out the answers to these questions and more with Psychology Today.
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