Are Bystanders Help Misdiagnors?

The bystander effect is a social psychological scenario where a person who is in an urgent situation is not given any help by the people around due to the discourage from the presence of others (whatispsychology.biz, 2017). Social psychologists, John Darley and Bibb Latane, introduced the bystander effect in the 1960s after the murder of Kitty Genovese, a young woman who was stabbed to death outside her home in New York City. It took her attacker more than half an hour to kill her, and during that time, thirty-eight people saw her being murdered, and they did nothing to help her. “The responsibility for helping was diffused among the observers” (Darley & Latane, 1968).

If you saw someone being attacked on the street, would you help? Many of us would quickly say yes we would help because to state the opposite would say that we are evil human beings. Much research has been done on why people choose to help and why others choose not to. The bystander effect states that the more bystanders present, the less likely it is for someone to help. Sometimes a bystander will assume that because no one else seems concerned, they shouldn't be (Senghas, 2007). Much of the research that has been done supports this definition of the bystander effect. There have also been recent situations where this

The general statement made by the author, Anna Quindlen, in her work Getting Involved, is that it is vital for human beings to be apathetic, and care for one another. More specifically, the author argues that isolating oneself from local conflict will not resolve any issues. She writes, “Neighbors heard screams and shouts and the unmistakable sound of something hitting a human being…But nothing was really done until…[the] little girl was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.” In this passage, the author is suggesting that being a bystander is detrimental and can lead to severe, preventable outcomes. In conclusion, the author’s belief is a topic that need to be spoken upon more often, the society is in desperate need of compassion

The study by Darley and Latane leaves society with the knowledge that everyone who is witnessing an emergency is most likely thinking the same thing “someone else will call for help or has already” so “Always act as if you are the only person there” (Darely & Latane, 1968). The concept of situationism is the driving force behind bystander effect. Situationism is “social behavior is, to a larger extent than people commonly realize, a response to people’s social context, not a function of individual personality” (Fiske, 2010, p. 7). Individuals first have to decide if they are witnessing an emergency. Then they need to decide if they have a responsibility to act which is when situationism comes in. If there are hundreds of witnesses each individual see the situation from a different perspective and responsibility to act is diffused among the crowd. On the other hand if one individual sees an emergency and believes there is no one else to help the responsibility rests on him or her. The context of the situation will determine how an individual will react, but people should consider the reality of everyone believing someone else will react and no one reacting. Kitty Genovese would still be alive if even one person would have called the cops when the first attack started.

So what exactly is a bystander? What goes on in a bystander’s mind? How does a bystander affect their surroundings? The Oxford English Dictionary defines a bystander to be “A person who sees something that is happening but is not involved.”(Bystander) Under this definition, I can say that everybody has been a bystander at one point in their life, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This definition considers you to be a bystander if you

Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. The sad part about it is that many will never admit to it or acknowledge this fact. Along with the previously stated point, Sandra also talks about just how used to violence the children of Mango Street are. They don't flinch anymore when they hear sirens because they are accustomed to them. Many want to escape, but often are incapable of doing so on their own. Sally tries to escape and be her own person, yet she is shut down when no one helps her do so. As Americans it is the citizen’s duty to make this

People that night had a lot of excuse some probably true and some not. In 1964 im not sure what the culture was like and how people viewed police at the time, so not too sure why no one called. Maybe they thought someone else had, or maybe since it was a nice neighborhood they did not really believe it was happening. People still to this day do not want to get involved with incidents, or get involved for the wrong reasons. Many people these days would rather record what is happening then to try to get help.

Clearly, this is a big scenario someone is being hurt and the violator was a dangerous man, he could be armed, have guns, knives which can cause a person to be frighten, not knowing what to do but wanting to help .”They (the witnesses) were deaf, paralyzed, hypnotized with excitation “(p.97) this is what Dr. Banay stated in an emergency both the victim and the helper have their lives at risk, in a unexpected circumstance it is more likely that a person would not know what to do, because of lack of education on what to do, Darley and Latane developed the five stages of helping behavior, they are “1. You, the potential helper, must notice and event occurring. 2. You must interpret the event as one in which help is needed.

Throughout my years in Carolyn Clark Elementary School, teachers and parents taught us how to be active bystanders. I knew that we had the power to make decisions about how to respond to whatever we see or hear. The choices we make can make a positive or negative impact on the people experiencing the event. When we stay silent, do nothing, or look the other way while witnessing someone being hurt verbally, physically, or mentally, we are participating in something that allows discrimination and

When it comes to intervening in a dangerous situation, most people are too afraid to stand up for what is right. There are some clear steps as to how to intervene in a dangerous situation such as sexual assault. According to the Marine Corps Community Service website article,(“Master The Three “D’s” To Bystander Intervention”) “Bystander intervention is one of the most effective ways to prevent sexual assault.” There are 3 D’s that help an individual intervene in a dangerous situation. According to the article, the three “D’s” are “ To delegate, direct, and to distract.”

For example at the 9/11 attack there was bystanders those in need and got them out of the way of the building and debris that was falling from the buildings. Another example would be the Las Vegas shooting that had recently happened, there was a lot of bystanders who were moving people to safety and out of the shooters way so they won't get hit. People are even bystanders on social media; just by seeing somebody being bullied on the media is being a bystander. Some more examples are the Sandy Hook shooting when the teacher hide all her students in the bathroom to keep the shooter from killing them, but eventually the shooter had found them. There are many examples. For example one of the most famous case occurred in 1964 with a rape and murder of Kitty Genovese. While a man attacked, raped, and killed this young women, over 38 men and women witnessed the assault and did nothing but be a

The bystander doesn’t care about the victim get beat up or taunted at. Put your self’s in their shoes and see how bad

As shown in Fischer et al.(2011) bystanders will more likely to provide help, when they are with the people familiar with rather that strangers, because the partners can give supportive to each other in order to reduce the negative consequences, regulate negative emotions and also can communicate to increase the decision-making in order cooperate to help the victim. This is applicable for our respondents because almost all of them provide help with the partners accompany them. However, researcher mentioned when bystanders having the conversation among them, there may have bystander effect

Some time ago, I remember there was news of a fifteen-year-old girl gang-raped outside of her homecoming dance. There were some dozen or so onlookers; some took pictures and not a single soul called the police. What makes right here? How much “might” does it take to make a 9-1-1 call?

A bystander, to me, is somebody who can possibly help during a time of need but chooses not to. Even if it is something as simple as someone falling down the stairs, I feel you still need to help. It was sad to hear about the Kitty Genovese story, she could have easily been saved, yet people were too lazy or too tired. It makes me wonder how people managed to live with themselves afterward. All 37 of those people were bystanders, and the bystanders are just as guilty as the offender. Growing up my dad always told me if I saw something taking place that I knew was wrong but did not do anything, I was just as guilty as the person doing it. That has