Meet Ervin Staub, Ph.D.  

A Life Dedicated to Understanding Evil, Advancing Goodness, and Preventing Violence

Evil, Goodness, And Creating Active Bystandership

Evil, Goodness, and Creating Active Bystandership: A Memoir shares the remarkable journey of Ervin Staub, a scholar and actor in the world whose early life was shaped by surviving the Holocaust in Hungary and growing up under communism. After escaping Hungary and immigrating to the US, he received a PhD from Stanford, going on to teach at Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Massachusetts.

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Ervin Staub: A Life in Service of Humanity

From a child survivor of the Holocaust to a global leader in peacebuilding, Dr. Ervin Staub’s life tells a powerful story of moral courage, healing, hope, and activism.

Explore the forthcoming memoir, Evil, Goodness, and Active Bystandership, a profound examination of human morality and the power of individual and group action

1938 – Born in Hungary

Ervin Staub was born into a Jewish family in Budapest just before the outbreak of World War II. His early years were shaped by both the warmth of family life and the terrible danger of himself and his family being killed. He then lived in a communist society until his escape at age 18.

1960s – Academic Pursuits in Psychology

He earned his Ph.D. in psychology and began a career dedicated to researching the roots of violence, helping behavior, and the psychology and practice of moral action.

1980s–2000s – Pioneering Research & Teaching

As a professor, author, and a person increasingly active in real-world settings, Dr. Staub's work broke new ground in understanding bystander behavior, genocide, and the development of caring and helping. His writings, including The Roots of Evil; The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil; and The Psychology of Good and Evil became foundational texts in preventing violence and promoting peace

Engaging with the Dalai Lama at a small conference in Dharamsala, India, and inviting him to a conference on genocide prevention in Sweden.

1990s–2010s – From Theory to Action

Dr. Staub applied his work globally—in Rwanda, Burundi, and other settings, helping communities heal after mass violence and genocide. He developed reconciliation programs and trained leaders in moral repair and dialogue. He also helped create peace between the Muslim Dutch and the ethnic Dutch in Amsterdam after they engaged in violence.

1990s to 2025

Dr. Staub and his associates, using a revision of a training he has created, have been training police officers to be active bystanders who prevent or stop fellow officers from engaging in unnecessary violence. They have trained about 420 police departments.