The Bystander Effect

What factors do you think contribute to a bystander’s decision of whether to intervene or

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).

“What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.” -Elie Wiesel

This essay will ‘compare and contrast’ two approaches made in investigating the ‘bystander effect’. It will discuss in some depth as to what exactly is meant by the bystander effect, illustrating when this concept was first shown and why. An outline will be made of the different methods used, those being experiments and discourse analysis, explaining each one in turn, within the framework of two cases. The first being the murder of ‘Catherine Genovese,’ 1964.and the second ‘James Bulger’ 1993. The essay will then show examples of the differences and similarities between each method. Concluding with a summary of findings into the two approaches to investigating the Bystander Effect.

different times) act as if they were is a lot of pain or a drunk. The test was to see how long it took

Because we are more likely to help those that are similar to us, we are more likely to help those that are of the same race as us. According to Marsh and Keltner (2006), “Research has shown that people are more likely to help those they perceive to be similar to them, including others from their own racial or ethnic groups. We don’t like to discover that our propensity for altruism can depend on prejudice…” We can connect the evidence provided to explain issues of the bystander effect and racism. For example, when people witness a situation of racism, they are probably only going to help if it is someone from the same racial group. However, if it were someone foreign to his or her group, then that would ignore the issue and not step in. Regarding the Holocaust and many other world issues, people probably did not care for it or paid attention because it did not concern people of their own kind. However, once an issue hits their own country/social group, then people will be quick to offer as much help as possible. I believe that this mentality is a part of the racism issue our society faces; we prefer to only help people of our own kind. If people continue to carry this mentality, then we will never get over our differences in order to help others. But if the world can come together and put those racial differences aside, then we can possibly live in a world with less conflict as we strive to help one another and live in peace.

I believe that I have seen the possibility for the bystander effect when someone is injured. I play ultimate frisbee, and the closer knit the group is the more unlikely for the bystander effect to be observed when someone is hurt (closeness can be seen when people are talking to each other/participating in rituals).

“Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder But Didn’t Call the Police” is unfortunately a true story about citizens who witnessed their neighbor being assaulted and didn’t take action. The neighbor’s negligence perturbed me, and I had to look into it. The Samuel Merritt University refers to it as “The Bystander Effect” and explains it as “a diffusion of responsibility . . . the more people there are to witness an event, the less each individual feels personally responsible for doing something” (Samuel Merritt University, “Bystander Intervention & Prevention”). This article about Kitty Genovese and her selfish neighbors reminded me of a dispute I once saw between a small group and an individual. It wasn’t the fight that startled me, but the group of apprehensive

The bystander effect is a very famous theory. It has been indited about in many Psychology Textbooks. In addition, there has been many situations that have been associated with this theory. Nevertheless, there was one story that commenced it all. This acclaimed story went viral and what some would call, legendary. This story resulted in a woman denominated as Kitty Genovese being assailed and murdered by Winston Moseley. The reason this situation became so popular was due to the fact that Kitty Genovese was murdered with witnesses nearby. Many wondered how can citizens of America sanction a woman being murdered knowing that she was in desideratum of avail.

Consider the story of Kitty Genovese: Kitty was an average woman. She lived in New York, had a job as a bartender, was well liked in her community, however on March 13, 1964 Kitty was was brutally raped and murdered right outside of her apartment building. Thirty-eight people watched as Winston Moseley, the offender, committed these atrocities as Kitty cried out for help while she was dying. Thirty-eight people watched, but not one of them tried to help. This event coined the Bystander Effect.

This may happen for the reason known as “diffusion of responsibility”. Psychologists have proven that people are less likely to intercede in a situation if there are more people present. For example, John Darley and Bibb Latane have done many experiments proving the bystander effect. One experiment is called “The Smoke-Filled Room Experiment” where they take in random person and put a smoke machine in another room. Darley and Latane put more people in the same room that the targeted person is in and turn on the smoke machine. They observe if the targeted person will react if nobody else does. Almost every time the targeted person would look around to see if anybody was doing anything, notice that the others didn’t react, and stay seated knowing that their life could be in danger. Furthermore, people always depend on someone else to make the first decision before following after them. This evidence is proof of the psychological phenomenon of Bystander

Near her home in the district of Queens NYC, Catherine Susan also known as Kitty Genovese, was a New York City woman who was stabbed to death by Winston Moseley on March 13, 1964. Two weeks later, a newspaper article reported the circumstances of Genovese's murder and the lack of reaction from numerous neighbors. The common portrayal is of her neighbors as being fully aware of what was emerging but completely unresponsive and has since been criticized as inaccurate. Nevertheless, that portrayal prompted investigation into the social psychological phenomenon that has become known as the bystander effect or "Genovese syndrome", especially diffusion of responsibility.

People act differently when they are alone versus when they are in a group. Of course, it would seem logical that when a person is in a group they would act better because people are around, probably some of whom they know, to judge actions. This may be the case for most actions, but a curious psychological response, called the "bystander effect", has been observed which shows a troubling aspect of group behavior. This essay will look at a particular case that started the research into this phenomena, why it happens, and how it is effected by other variables.

Altruism is a completely selfless act done for the sole purpose of helping of others. The purpose of altruism is to help and tend to the wellbeing of another citizen who may be in need of assistance. We help people because we want to make sure that all people are ok. Some people may also feel satisfaction because they have helped someone who needs it. In some cases we may not be altruistic because we may not want to feel out of place.

The Bystander Effect has become a hot topic among people, especially among the young and heated debates are right on their way. We have read about incidents in which many people witnessed a violent crime yet did nothing to help. The Martin Gansberg essay narrate a woman was killed by a killer, but nobody helps her to call police or ambulance. At that moment, there were thirty-eight people saw the assailant. That event reflects between people to people were cold. I think nothing is more important than the fact that people need to help each other and monolithic solidarity. Everybody needs the sense of social responsibility to protect and inherit the good trait. So, there are several measures for people to adopt.