Moses : The Bystander Effect

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).

38 people witnessed Catherine Genovese get stabbed, in three separate attacks, over a period of 35 minutes in Queens. Even as the assailant returned twice to finish off the job people still did nothing to intervene. This is called the bystander effect. This is a psychological phenomenon that describes the decrease in a person's likliness to help someone in need when there are other witnesses around. As found in most everyday crimes, the bystander effect was also found during the Holocaust. In Night, by Elie Wiesel, the bystander effect is revealed due to one's inability to help others in need because of fear they will be persecuted as well. The Jews of Sighet did nothing to help the foreigners being expelled from the area, Elie could not

This quote from Elie Wiesel, one of the most well known Holocaust survivors, demonstrates how even the most innocent of bystanders can be just as, if not more guilty than the perpetrator. This holds true in the case of Kitty Genovese, in which 38 witnesses to the murder did nothing to prevent the crime from progressing. However, in the case of Brock Turner, the Stanford university swimmer involved in a rape case, two strangers intervened to prevent further assault from taking place.

The Bystander effect is a controversial theory given to social phenomenon where the more potential helpers there are, the less likely any individual is to help. A traditional explanation for this Bystander Effect is that responsibility diffuses across the multiple bystanders, diluting the responsibility of each. (Kyle et al.) The Bystander effect, also known as the Genovese Syndrome, was created after the infamous murder of “Kitty” Catherine Genovese in 1964, on the streets of New York in front of thirty-seven witnesses. After studying the Genovese syndrome and doing research on how this phenomenon occurs today, it is clear The Bystander effect is not theory, but actually fact.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to

For example in the gang rape article, a Californian girl was allegedly raped outside of a high school homecoming dance. As many as 20 people sat there and watched. Why did nobody help? Jack McDevitt, a Criminologist at Northeastern University, believes "witnesses may have kept quiet out of fear of retaliation"(Chen 3). Due to fear, the crime was not reported during the time of the gang rape. This indicates, because of fear of retaliation from stronger people, individuals do not think of helping because they think they will not only put themselves in danger, but also their family members. This article is also identical to Night, when Elie's dad had just been struck with a violent blow to the head by an SS officer. Elie thinks to himself "I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head"(Wiesel 111). This portrays how, due to fear, Elie's beliefs changed and he decided if he helped he would be struck

Ramses the Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites out of Egypt, so Moses stepped in and led the Israelites out of Egypt, which we know as the Exodus. If I were an Israelite, I would join Moses out of Egypt. I would do this because being a slave would mean being tortured. Moreover, Moses had powers from God, so it was save to be with him. He had the Ten Commandments, so people would know how to live their daily lives.

In Exodus, there was never any signs of doubt and God’s plan for justice was always consistent. Because of this, Moses’ purpose did not waver during the negotiations with Pharaoh, preventing him from understanding Pharaoh’s perspective. Moses followed the orders of God and obeyed his every command, never doubting him for a second (Exodus 3:12). He believed that if anyone was going to pull him and his people out of exile, it would be God. The idea of following God and His love was so simple to Moses, that he completely ignored occurrences that any person today would have fled from.

A haunting story that will always stay stagnant through time is the case of Kitty Genovese, a young woman living in New York. In March of 1964 she was walking home in the early morning from work. A man under the name of Winston Moseley followed her with his car, eventually got out, chased after her, and stabbed her multiple times. She cried for help to any and all neighbors living in her apartment complex, one man even yelling at Winston to leave her alone. None of them, for that matter, called the police. As he continued to stab her, he raped her. Then he laid her body on the side of the road, and left. This was the first case to coin the term ‘bystander effect’. Thirty-eight witnesses watched and heard her cries for help, none of them deciding

Darley and Latane begin their essay by using solid examples of when the bystander effect presented itself, and why people were harmed because of it. They explain why nice people do not help in certain situations, and why someone can pass by a person in distress when others are around, and why more people respond when no one is around. Darley and Latane show what it takes for people to respond; they have to actually realize that it is an emergency and not a ruse or a normal occurrence. Sitting idly by while a dangerous situation is happening does not make someone a bad person, it just reveals their humanity.

To escape persecution from Pharaoh, Moses flees to Midian. By leaving his familiar surroundings, Moses finds himself crossing a threshold into a foreign land. To get to Midian, Moses must cross the Desert of Sin. The crossing of the threshold is the first step into the sacred zone of the universal source (Campbell 81). In Midian, he befriends and then marries the daughter of Jethro, priest of Midian. Moses becomes a shepherd as he adjusts to his new life. There is an enormous contrast between Moses' life as an Egyptian prince and his life as a Midianite shepherd. As a prince he had everything done for him. As a shepherd he had to do everything for himself; he was holding the very job that he had been taught to despise, and he lived as an unknown foreigner. This was a humbling experience for Moses. Living the life of a shepherd and nomad, Moses learned about the ways of the people he would be leading and also about life in the desert. Campbell would say that Moses was swallowed into the belly of the whale (Campbell 90). Moses couldn't appreciate these lessons, but they were preparing him to free Israel from Pharaoh's

Moses was a humble man, but God sees that he is mightier than Moses sees himself. When God tells him that he must lead the Jews out of Egypt, he grows fearful and unworthy of such a task. Moses humility toward God is what makes him capable of such a tremendous mission. Although, he would have much rather not lead the Jews out of Egypt because he is afraid and does not have faith in himself, however, he is able to do it because God has told him to and God would not ask him to do so if it was impossible. Moses successfully leads the Hebrews out of Egypt. Moses was capable of freeing the Jews of slavery with a quality of humility (No Title, 1986).

Did you know that God Talked to Moses and told him to free his people from slavery? The Exodus happened when Moses lead his people out of Egypt , away from Ramesses the second, and lead them to freedom. If I was a slave, I would leave Egypt because I would like to avoid the ten plagues. Also, I would follow Moses because he was a messenger sent by God. Another reason, I would follow Moses out of Egypt is because I would follow the Torah.

Throughout life people face countless decisions; however, making the wrong choice may lead to a catastrophic consequence. As a woman was being brutally stabbed in Kew Gardens near Austin Street, numerous bystanders did not help or act upon calling the police. The choice of the bystanders to not phone the police lead to the death of an innocent woman. Had just one of the thirty-eight people called the police, that innocent woman would still have breath in her lungs. In the article “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” Martin Gansberg expresses his anger and disapproval toward those who left a poor woman to die. If the thirty-eight people took immediate action and did not make excuses, the precious life of Catherine Genovese would have been rescued.

Catherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese was a New York City woman who was stabbed to death and repeatedly raped near her home. Investigations recorded 38 witnesses, none of whom attempted to assist Kitty personally and only one whom called the police, afterwards stating “I didn’t want to get involved” The incident of “Kitty” Genovese’s death exemplifies the extraordinary lengths that humans can go in an attempt to prevent self-loss even at the cost of another’s far more severe personal loss. By not acting these neighbors failed to stand up for their moral code and in doing so failed to act on behalf of what they presumably believed to be right at the cost of another s life, this also establishes the ability of self-interest to not only drive conflict in the way that self-interest allowed the event to occur on the side of the attacker, who was likely motivated by lust or anger, but to also discourage opposing action in bystanders out of a fear of personal loss. The actions the witnesses of “Kitty’s“ fate took mirror the attitude of a large degree of the human populations attitudes. Historically, few stand up for their beliefs and moral code at great personal risk, the strength of self-preservation Is too strong for most , for every “hero” that acts, hundreds of bystanders fail to act. The existence of “heroes” Itself is evidence that humans often fail to act in times of conflict, after all if there was more people who acted