ABSTRACT
This article is primarily about the applications of research and theory, mainly the author owns but also others’, to real-world settings. It originates from a talk the author gave at the National Summit on Violence in November 2016 at the American Psychological Association offices in Washington, D.C. In 2014, Mary Howell, an attorney in New Orleans who knew about the author's work, managed to have training in active bystandership included in a consent decree signed by New Orleans and its police department with the justice department, agreeing to changes in police training. Hopefully, when the system becomes more open, or when conditions make active bystandership essential, whatever cultural changes the people have contributed to will manifest themselves. There has been a long history of research on contact between groups to overcome negative attitudes, but contact is often of limited duration or nature, and its effects are mostly evaluated immediately after it took place.
