Newspapers are full of terrifying stories of the dangers facing the modern-day Good Samaritan.

Do we have a moral responsibility to help others who are in trouble, no matter the cost, or are we perfectly justified in obeying our instincts for self-preservation and simply walking away?

Why don't we ask the person on the tube to turn their music down? Because we assume someone else will, or because we fear the potentially violent fall-out?

Is the increasing reluctance of citizens to intervene in incidences of anti-social behaviour a damning indictment of of modern society, with its population-dense cities, disconnected inhabitants, and weak community ties?
 

Or is this the "Bystander Effect", where studies have shown that the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that anyone will help, as responsibility is diffused by the group, and assumed by no-one?

The RSA has recently commissioned a report that argues there could be great gains in taking a new approach to anti-social behaviour modelled on first aid, where people are trained in basic community safety skills and taught how to respond to disorder and defuse conflict.

If we were all better informed of the risks and rewards of intervention and equipped with the resources to take sensible, practical action, could we create positive cycle, where Good Samaritans are further defended by others, and end up outnumbering the anti-social few, resulting in safer, stronger neighbourhoods and cities?

Speakers to include Ken Livingstone, London mayoral candidate; Nick Ross, journalist, broadcaster, and presenter of BBC Crimewatch UK; Marilyn Hebbron, Watch Head Coordinator, Street Watch; Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA; Ben Rogers, author of the RSA report “The Woolwich model: can citizens tackle anti–social behaviour?”.

Chair: James O’Brien, LBC radio presenter

The event will be broadcast live from the RSA Great Room on LBC 97.3FM