Kitty Genovese

As human beings we all see and hear about crimes from a day to day basis. We all question why we have crime and what makes a person commit a crime.

Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium.” Albert Camus.

The crime had taken place on the outskirts of Winston Salem, North Carolina on August 10, 1984. Mrs. Sykes was late for work, which was not normal causing Mr. Dawson (former news editor of Sentinel) to go out looking for her. Being that she wasn’t there the police were called by Fred Flagler (papers managing editor) and her husband Mr. Sykes was notified. Around 1:55 pm that day the body of Mrs. Sykes was found a half block from the newspapers. There were stab wounds all over her body and she had also been raped. A pathologist at Chapel Hill said she was stabbed 16 times and the fatal blow consisted of a stab wound that went 5 inches deep piercing her heart.

In 2010, a homeless man named Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, saved a woman who was being mugged. He collapsed on a Queens, N.Y. , sidewalk after the mugger stabbed him several times. The incident was captured on the surveillance camera and more than 20 people can be seen passing by as he lay bleeding to death. Tale-Yax was already dead when help finally arrived on the scene. It is sad to know that

Relying on our won understanding instead of direct guidance for valid reasons we may bring harm to ourselves.

In my studies I have seen that the way we act is basically just a replication of what has been reinforced in our minds for years as we grow up .we know when to act a certain way. Now if you

Kitty Genovese was a woman from New York City who was stabbed to death three separate times outside her apartment building in Kew Gardens. The first two times being outside her apartment, and finally finishing her off the assailant returned stabbing her on the floor at the foot of the stairs. Much controversy arose from the Kitty Genovese murder, due to how public the murder was, and how no one stood up for her, or even alerted the police. After Kitty Genovese’s murder, questions began to arise, why didn't anyone take action, how was the assailant able to stab her three times in public, and why weren't the police or ambulances called sooner? All these questions could be answered by a syndrome, titled after the Kitty Genovese murder, as the “Bystander Effect”.

Kitty Genovese’s murder and trial have had a lasting impact on many areas of life. One example, is in entertainment. A multitudinous number of books, shows, articles, and songs have been made to reflect on the 38 supposed witnesses (“Revised”). In academic writing alone, over 1,000 pieces have stemmed from Kitty’s story (Takooshian). The 911 line was created as a result of this tragedy as well (Merry). Before this incident, the most reliable method to call police in New York was to use the specific precinct number (Lemann). Moreover, a fair amount of police believed that it was their responsibility to fight crimes while the citizens wait for them (“What”). Multiple accounts reveal that the dispatcher would tell callers to mind their business

The murderer intended to kill her. But there were thirty eight witnesses and nobody attempted to help her. It is unimaginable. There was a psychological issue that is called bystanders. Most people when hearing about this sort of thing react with horror not so much in the direction of the crime, but rather at the actions of the bystanders. The bystander effect is a psychological phenomenon in which someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when others are present than when a person is alone.

Crime is displayed in the media, on television shows, talked about amongst individuals, and seen in many neighborhoods causing many individuals to live fear. Many people begin to live in fear because they believe their likelihood of becoming victimized is high based on what they hear and visualize. In this paper I will be discussing how Fear of Crime is Worse than Crime Itself. I will introduce articles representing people living in fear when there likelihood of becoming a victim of crimes are low. The text book suggest that fear of crime can lead to “withdraws from communities and a breakdown in social relations among people. It can also suppress investment and discourage new business causing neighborhood deterioration and abandonment. Fear of crime causes anxiety and depressions for some individuals (p8).” In my paper I will explore many examples of how fear can lead up to these societal issues.

Humans care about the well-being of the world and the people in it, but that does not mean that they can be bothered to make the world better. In 1964 a young woman’s life was less important than the call of indifference. Her name was Catherine “Kitty” Genovese and she was ultimately murdered because her thirty-eight neighbors could not be bothered to lift a finger to save her life. If this were the case in today’s society, the thirty-eight witnesses would have more than likely put on trial for accessory to murder because current laws make it illegal to be so indifferent to such a gruesome and heinous crime. If everyone was this indifferent to all crime, there would be nonstop theft and murder, the society and economy would quickly fall apart and there would be total chaos.

The murder case of Kitty Genovese sparked the city because of how her neighbors ignored her screams and didn’t bother to call the police till the last minute. According to Bibb Latane, a social psychologist, he questioned the idea of how these neighbors of Kitty Genovese didn’t respond to the situation quickly. In Latane’s experiment, he tested how a single individual react to an emergency situation compared to a group. As a result, an individual is likely to report the problem immediately compared to a group of people. The bystander apathy is present when there is a group of people in an emergency situation, where they think that someone will take the responsibility to help.

Imperfect human beings in an unpredictable, chaotic universe must use reasoning and judgment to evaluate how best to rise above their survival instinct, and help others.

"The Bystander Effect" is a short video on the study how people reacted to others in distress while in a crowd. Most would assume there is safety within numbers, however, the results prove that that may not always be the case. This study seems to bring to attention that while in a larger crowd people may actually be less likely to receive help. This may be due to our human behavior of doing the same as everyone else, or possibly a mental thought of let someone else handle it, do not get involved. These findings could easily bring on a new fear of being in crowded areas.

Crime in this country is an everyday thing. Some people believe that crime is unnecessary. That people do it out of ignorance and that it really can be prevented. Honestly, since we live in a country where there is poverty, people living in the streets, or with people barely getting by, there will always be crime. Whether the crime is robbing food, money, or even hurting the people you love, your family. You will soon read about how being a criminal starts or even stops, where it begins, with whom it begins with and why crime seems to be the only way out sometimes for the poor.