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The Bystander Effect Brenna Tracy

Case Study: Kitty Genovese

Who Was Kitty

Catherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese was born July 7th, 1935 and died on March 13th, 1964 at age 28. She was the eldest of 5 children born into a Brooklyn Italian- American family. Her family eventually moved to Connecticut but she remained in New York. At the time of her death she was a bartender and manager from Kew Gardens in Queens, New York City.

What Happened to Kitty

At 2:30 am on March 13th, 1964 Kitty left her job at the bar she worked at to drive home. Killer, Winston Moseley, saw her at a red light and followed her home in his car. She parked 100 ft says from her apartment in an alley at the rear of her apartment building. Moseley approached her with a hunting knife as she was walking towards her building. She ran away but Moseley chased her and stabbed her two times in the back. Kitty screamed, "Oh my God, he stabbed me! Help me". multiple neighbors heard but only a few recognized it as a cry for help. One neighbor yelled "let that girl alone" and Moseley fled while a seriously injured Kitty made her way towards her back door. Moseley left only to return 10 minutes later to search for Kitty. He found her barely conscious lying in the hallway at the back of her building. Unfortunately her door had been locked preventing her from going inside. They were out of view from the street and Moseley stabbed her several more times, raped her, and stole $49 and ran away. A friend of Kitty's found her after the attack and waited with her until the ambulance arrived. She died in route to the hospital

Media's Influence After Kitty Genovese's Murder

In a times article author claimed 37 witnesses observed the murder and did nothing. This was prompted by a conversation between the Times editor and the Police Commissioner at the time. This report was used as a morality tale about cities, that they were turning into alienating, dehumanizing places lacking community and neighborhoods. The article was designed to make people living in the city look cold, cruel, selfish, and indifferent. The Times article claimed that in the 35 min that the attack was occurring no one did anything, no one called the police because as one source stated, "I did not want to get involved". The story was appalling, but also happened to be wrong. Let's not forget about her neighbor who found her and stayed with her until the ambulance arrived as well as the man who yelled and stopped the initial attack. It was proven that the number of witnesses was greatly exaggerated, and moreover many of the "witnesses" could not actually see what was happening and believed it was a "drunken brawl or lovers quarrel". Several of said "witnesses" also claimed that they did call the police when hearing the attack.

SO... Then What

While the Times article was not exactly accurate it did lead to a lot of psychological research particularly related to the Bystander effect. This case contributed to the creation of the 9-1-1 emergency hotline, as well as Good Samaritan laws that were passed in New York and elsewhere used to encourage people to help victims. It also influenced music, theater, television, and literature. This case is taught in "every" intro to psychology textbook. The apparent lack of reaction by numerous neighbors reported to have watched the scene or to have heard Genovese's cries for help, although erroneously reported, prompted research into diffusion of responsibility and the bystander effect. Social psychologists John M. Darley and Bibb Latané started this line of research, showing that contrary to common expectations, larger numbers of bystanders decrease the likelihood that someone will step forward and help a victim. The reasons include the fact that onlookers see that others are not helping either, that onlookers believe others will know better how to help, and that onlookers feel uncertain about helping while others are watching. The Genovese case thus became a classic feature of social psychology textbooks in the United States and the United Kingdom

Good Samaritan Law in Seinfeld

In this clip from the show Seinfeld, George, Kramer, Elain and Jerry are all arrested for failing to help a man who was robbed and are charged under the “Good Samaritan Law”. There are plenty of actual Good Samaritan Laws but these do not actually involve interfering with criminal activity, but instead with helping people who are injured. In fact, most of these are written not to force persons to help, but protect those who do provide assistance from civil litigation. The law in Seinfeld would actually be considered as a “Duty to Rescue” law. Some states do have a duty to rescue law but these usually involve reporting violent crimes, not intervening or putting oneself in harms way. This clip also connects to the recent Philadelphia train attack, which will be discussed later, because in a similar manner Kramer filmed the robbery as it was happening.

The Bystander Effect

Definition: Occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation, against a bully, or during an assault or other crime. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is for any one of them to provide help to a person in distress. - Bibb Latané and John Darley

Possible causes for the bystander effect

  • Diffusion of responsibility/ diffusion of blame: psychological phenomenon in which people are less likely to take action when in the presence of a large group of people
  • Social influence: comprises the ways in which individuals change their behavior to meet the demands of a social environment.
  • Thinking another person is already taking action to help

Symptoms

  • Bystander apathy: the feeling of having less responsibility when more bystanders are present
  • fear of embarrassment: the fear of unfavorable public judgment when helping

4 steps to bystander though process that will lead to help

Bystander intervention: a social science model that predicts the likelihood of individuals (or groups) willing to actively address a situation they deem problematic

First, one must recognize a problem. Second, there must be an interpretation of the problem as an emergency. Third, the bystander must feel a personal obligation to act. Fourth, the bystander must decide how to act (form of assistance)

Tips on how to overcome the pull of the bystander effect:

  1. If you're in trouble, pick out one person in the crowd: making eye contact with a stranger influences that stranger's perception of the situation.
  2. If you're a bystander, take action: Someone has to stand up first when in a bystander situation so that the situation can be resolved
  3. Take advantage of the natural tendencies toward altruism: Assume the best in people, not the worst. Many people have a natural desire to help and will do so if you give them the chance.
  4. Try not to worry about the consequences of helping: It's possible that intervening in an emergency may increase the possibility of putting yourself at risk, but the alternative is the guilt that can come with not helping someone else
  5. Model altruism and helping to the young. By showing that you have the guts to take charge of situations and help others in need, children will gain important lessons from you.

Example of the Bystander Effect in the city of London

Neural Basis of the Bystander Effect

In 2016 Ruud Hortensius and Beatrice de Gelder conducted an investigation into the neural basis of the bystander effect.

When investigating whether when participants witness an emergency, while performing an unrelated color-naming task in an fMRI scanner, the number of bystanders present at the emergency influences neural activity in regions related to action preparation. The results show a decrease in activity with the increase in group size in the left pre- and postcentral gyri and left medial frontal gyrus. In contrast, regions related to visual perception and attention show an increase in activity. These results demonstrate the neural mechanisms of social influence on automatic action preparation that is at the core of helping behavior when witnessing an emergency.

From Empathy to Apathy: The Bystander Effect Revisited

Ruud Hortensius and Beatrice de Gelder conducted another study in 2018. Again using an fMRI they mapped the neural activity as a function of the number of bystanders present in an emergency situation. Participants in this study watched an elderly woman collapsing to the ground alone or in the presence of one, two, or four bystanders. Like their previous study, activity increased in vision- and attention-related regions, but not in the mentalizing network. When participants witnessed emergencies with increasing numbers of bystanders, a decrease in activity was observed in brain regions important for the preparation to help: the pre- and postcentral gyrus and the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). The MPFC is implicated in a diverse set of emotional and social processes. Activity in the MPFC has been linked to prosocial behavior, such as helping friends and strangers on a daily basis. A decrease in activity in this region could explain why people are less likely to help in an emergency situations when others are present.

Current Context of Kitty Genovese and the Bystander Effect

PHILADELPHIA TRAIN

On October 13, 2021 a woman was brutally raped on a Philadelphia elevated train. It was reported by both the police and media outlets that passengers on said train watched and/or recorded the brutal assault none of them intervened to help the victim. It was said that the only person to dial 911 was an off-duty transit worker. This story spread like wildfire and, similarly to the original Times article about Kitty, it painted a picture of an uncaring society. But also similar to Kitty’s case, the narrative of the story was not entirely accurate. The district attorney who is prosecuting the case against the rapist has claimed that the portrayal of bystanders callously videotaping the crime was “simply not true”. The assault took place over 40 min beginning with unwanted talking and then progressing to rape which lasted about six minutes. Most riders on the train were not there for the duration of the attack and may not have been aware of what was happening. There were two passengers on the train who videos the assault according to video surveillance, but that recording was provided to the authorities. Research about the current day bystander effect conducted by Professor Elizabeth Jelic, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City found that filming may be an attempt at intervention in violent crimes. Jelic hypothesizes that, “They may be trying to help in videotaping it because it may be helpful in the prosecution of the crime later on”. Even though the initial reports were not entirely accurate many members of the public still weren’t pleased with the inaction of people on the train. They believed that it is obvious when someone is uncomfortable and over the course of the 40 min attack someone should have noticed and stepped in. Allegedly when the train cars opened, everyone painted to the rapist and assisted police in apprehending him. This narrative coupled with Kitty Genovese’s case has painted a picture about both the effect that bystanders have on a crime as well as the effect that the media has after a crime.

Bystander Effect

In Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, the bystanders were the people most qualified to give aid to the man who was robbed. The priest and the Levite walked passed the man and ignored the fact that he was left half dead and in need of help. The twist is that the outcast, a Samaritan, rejected by the people to whom Jesus was speaking, refused to be a bystander and give aid to the wounded man. At the end of the parable Jesus tells his followers to be like the Samaritan, basically to not be a bystander. Throughout the New Testament, there is emphasis on doing good to everyone.

Princeton Seminary Experiment: People in a Rush are Less Likely to Help Others (and Themselves)

In the 1970s psychologists John Darley and Dan Batson conduced a experiment related to time pressure in regards to helpful behavior by using students of the Princeton Theological Seminary who were tasked to give a sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The students had to give the sermon across campus and would be evaluated on their sermon by their supervisors. The goal was to see how these students helpful nature (their were being trained to be ordained priests so it was presumed they should be inclined to help others) would be effected by time pressures. The researchers gave one of three instructions to the students preparing in a room across campus. The instructions were: (directly from the article)

1. “You’re late. They were expecting you a few minutes ago…You’d better hurry. It shouldn’t take but just a minute.” This was the high-hurry condition.

2. “The (studio) assistant is ready for you, so please go right over.” This was the intermediate-hurry condition.

3. “It’ll be a few minutes before they’re ready for you, but you might as well head on over. If you have to wait over there, it shouldn’t be long.” This was the low-hurry condition.

The students then walked alone to the studio where they were to give their sermon. As they were walking they would encounter a victim in obvious need of assistance in a deserted alleyway (alluding to the wounded traveler in the Parable of the Good Samaritan).

The researchers of this experiment found that 10% of students In the high-hurry situation, 45% in the intermediate-hurry, and 63% in the low-hurry situation stopped to help the victim. The researchers concluded that “conflict, rather than callousness, can explain the failure to stop”. It is ironic that the students who were in such a rush to give a sermon on the Parable of the Good Samaritan actually confirmed the point of the parable. They fell into the role of the priest in the original telling who failed to help the victim and who Jesus tells his followers not to be like.

This adds another level to the bystander effect. The bystander effect was based on the notion that as the size of the group increases the likely hood that an individual will help decreases. This experiment also shows how time pressure can also contribute to ignoring a victim thus becoming a bystander.

Abuse in the Catholic Church

The abuse in the Catholic Church has led to a lot of its members, especially the younger generation, to lose faith (maybe not faith in religion but instead they lose faith in institutionalized religion such as Catholicism). A lot of the mistrust in the Catholic Church is not only due to the actual acts of abuse but instead the coverups that were done by the bystanders such as other priests and higher ups who parishioners were taught to trust wholeheartedly and without question.

The McCarrick report was released in 2020 by the Vatican and detailed their knowledge and decision making related to formal Cardinal McCarricks abusive ways. The Vatican’s McCarrick Report, led many Catholics to ask how Theodore McCarrick rose through the ranks of the Church hierarchy despite the rumors of his sexual abuse of seminarians. The report suggests that some people knew abuse was happening, but did not act to prevent it. Those who were aware included church leaders ranging from priests to bishops to popes. For example, one section of the report describes a dinner in 1990, when a bishop and priest witnessed McCarrick groping an obviously stunned seminarian seated next to him at the table. The witnesses abruptly left and did not report this behavior to church officials. The Catholic Church is built on tradition and for a long time the belief that the priests could do no wrong and that they should be held in higher regard than the parishioners and deserved a high degree of respect, trust, and autonomy. Their positions in the church and the overall power that the institution of the Catholic Church has held in the past led them to be untouchable. In recent years, amongst the many accusations against leaders in the church this unquestioning trust is beginning to change.

Spotlight (2015)- Details the abuse in the boston Catholic Churches as well as the coverups

About me!

I am a senior nursing student at the University of Scranton and I will be graduating in May. I am also on an ROTC scholarship, so after graduation I will need to serve in the army as an officer in the Nursing Corps for 4 years at minimum. I love traveling, especially to tropical places! I am from Oradell, NJ (a small town 15min outside of New York City), but now I live full-time at the Jersey shore. The beach is my favorite place, and I love to be in the ocean more than anything. Lastly, I love playing soccer, hanging out with my friends, spending time with my family, and my dog (his name is Dempsey and he is the best!).

references

37 who saw murder didn't call the police; apathy at ... (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/27/archives/37-who-saw-murder-didnt-call-the-police-apathy-at-stabbing-of.html.

Belludi, N., says, V., & says, J. B. (2019, June 6). Lessons from the Princeton Seminary Experiment: People in a rush are less likely to help others (and themselves). Right Attitudes. Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://www.rightattitudes.com/2015/06/16/people-in-a-rush-are-less-likely-to-help-themselves/

Busted for doing nothing? the good samaritan law in Seinfeld. Vista DUI Lawyer and Criminal Attorney Peter M. Liss. (2020, October 7). Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://vistacriminallaw.com/could-the-seinfeld-cast-really-be-busted-for-doing-nothing/

Griggs, R. A. (2015). The kitty genovese story in introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 42(2), 149–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628315573138

Guardian News and Media. (2021, November 1). Why accounts of Philadelphia train passengers not intervening in a rape spread. The Guardian. Retrieved December 19, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/01/philadelphia-police-bystanders-filming-mistaken-narrative

Hortensius, R., & de Gelder, B. (2018). From empathy to apathy: The bystander effect revisited. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(4), 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417749653

Kassin, S. M. (2017). The killing of kitty genovese: What else does this case tell us? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(3), 374–381. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616679465

Los Angeles Times. (2020, September 10). Column: The urban legend of kitty genovese and the 38 witnesses who ignored her blood-curdling screams. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-10/urban-legend-kitty-genovese-38-people.

Lurigio, A. J. (2015). Crime narratives, dramatizations, and the legacy of the kitty genovese murder. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 42(7), 782–789. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854814562954

ODonnell, E. (2020, November 24). Enablers and bystanders: Are they key to addressing the sex abuse crisis? Awake. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://awakemilwaukee.org/2020/11/24/facing-enablers-and-bystanders-is-this-a-key-to-addressing-the-sex-abuse-crisis/.

Why and how do we help? | psychology Today. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201009/why-and-how-do-we-help.

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