...In October 2009, a Richmond, CA. high school student was repeatedly raped while a couple of bystanders watched; they laughed, took pictures, sent text messages and made phone calls as the crime was happening. None of the calls placed was to the police. While the bystanders in this case were mostly teenagers and young adults, this non-reaction amongst bystanders cuts across different age groups and gender. Sadly, this is a normal response from bystanders as acts of violence are committed. The passive reaction is borne out of our culture of individualism; a ‘me first’ or “what’s in it for me” mentality. There have been several reasons argued for the lack of bystander involvement in thwarting an act of violence. The reasons put forward include, fear of being hurt in the process, the taboo of snitching, not recognizing the situation as an emergency and invasion of people’s privacy to name a few. If these are some reasons preventing onlookers from helping, how does one explain the case of Kitty Genovese? Kitty Genovese was a woman who killed in New York in 1964. Her murder took all of thirty-five minutes, the attacker actually had the time to leave the scene, come back, and inflict more pain on her. About 38 people heard and saw this happening through their windows, from the comfort of their homes. Despite her screams that she had been stabbed, none of these people tried to help her, either by confronting the attacker or by contacting the police. The most help she got was someone...
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...Discuss the Social Psychology of the Bystander Effect Name Grade Course Tutor’s Name Date Introduction The bystander effect is a social psychological sensation that alludes to cases in which people don't offer any method for help to a victimized person when other individuals are available. The likelihood of assistance is contrarily identified with the amount of bystanders. At the end of the day, the more noteworthy the amount of bystanders, the more improbable it is that any of them will offer assistance. A few variables help to clarify why the bystander effect happens. These variables include: ambiguity, cohesiveness and diffusion of responsibility. The bystander effect was initially showed in the laboratory by John Darley and Bibb Latané in 1968 after they got to be intrigued by the subject after the homicide of Kitty Genovese in 1964. These researchers dispatched an arrangement of experiments that brought about one of the strongest and most replicable impacts in social brain science, Bibb Latané and Judith Rodin (1969). In a common examination, the member is either alone or among a gathering of different members or confederates. A crisis circumstance is arranged and researchers measure to what extent it takes the members to mediate, in the event that they intercede. These experiments have discovered that the vicinity of others restrains helping, often by an extensive edge. Case in point, Bibb Latané and Judith Rodin (1969)...
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...The bystander effect is defined as the idea, “that individuals are less likely to exhibit prosocial behavior during an emergency situation if other bystanders are present than if they are not. The bystanders do not want to get involved so they continue to let the bullying happen. Machackova, Dedkova, and Mezulanikova (2015) state, “When participants were practically the sole witnesses, they were more supportive than when there were more witnesses” (p. 97). The problem with bystanders not standing up for others is the cycle will then perpetuate itself. Brody and Vangelisti (2015) have found, “research on the bystander effect, the number of bystanders to an online bullying incident was negatively related to participants intervening to stop the incident. Furthermore, the number of bystanders was positively associated with participants’ tendency to passively observe the incident” (p. 12). With this in mind, bystanders may be afraid to come forward and this will in turn create more problems with bullying. While the bystander effect is seen directly in classic bullying cases, students that become bystanders when it comes to social media, internet, and cyber issues make it even harder to catch a bully. Students can use the confidentiality of the screen to not be known. It is easy set up a fake account to see what others are doing and there is no way that other students will know that there is anyone else there. The issues of the bystander effect will help the...
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...Psy 110 - Asynchronous The Bystander Effect 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 effect has proven to be true. Early research of the bystander effect was done by researchers by the name of Latane’ and Darley. They studied a group of college students. The college students watched strangers on video tapes observing how they respond to someone who is choking. To my surprise they found that when the strangers thought they were the only one around 85% of them helped. When the strangers thought that there was one other person 65% of them helped. Only 31% of the strangers helped when they thought that four other people were around (Senghas, 2007). As astonishing as this research is we witness this type of disregard for other citizens everyday. A famous true story that showcases how people will ignore someone in need is the story of Kitty Genovese...
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...to identify whether prosocial behaviour is affected by the presence of bystanders. As Latane and Nida (1981) had pointed out, the bystander effect is among the most deeply ingrained research in social psychology...
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...If a bystander does not speak up are they guilty of the action that happens? In Wiesel's Nobel Prize acceptance speech(Wiesel), and Black Like Me (Griffin) you can see the difference a bystander may or make. If you are a bystander and watch something happen without speaking up then you are responsible for that action. Even if it means putting your life in danger it is a bystander's duty to speak up, as it gives the victim hope where they thought it could never be found. No one can know what the victim is going through until they try to understand it for themselves, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb around in his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 39) You may think you know...
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...will help is only 31%. The remaining 69% of witnesses who are present but do not take part, are called bystanders, but if these bystanders become upstanders, they would become part of a solution to a problem. To become an upstander, a person should take responsibility by educating themselves about bystander apathy, learning how to overcome it, and be willing to help others. Articles written by Tara McCartney and Bryona Golding demonstrate the importance of comprehending the responsibility of becoming an upstander. Likewise, through Michael Macy, Helen Kennedy,...
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...The bystander effect is an occurrence that happens as a result of cognitive and social processes combined and happens when someone chooses not to get involved with an emergency situation because the presence of others discourages them (What is bystander effect, 2015; Bystander effect, 2017). This can often be misunderstood as laziness or selfishness, although it is actually more of a misinterpretation of a situation, causing individuals to think that help is not actually needed (What is bystander effect, 2015). Moreover, the bystander effect is an occurrence that probably occurs more than most people think. For instance, young children might experience the bystander effect if they witness someone is being bullied at recess or in the halls,...
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...The Bystander Effect Kory Gioffredi Social Psychology If somebody had called in sick for work and they had asked you to fill in for them, would you? We as a society get asked this question multiple times throughout our lives, this statement would be known as “the bystander effect”. Fundamentally, the bystander effect is most likely to occur when a group of people witness a situation, where a person is in distress and requires assistance. According to the theoretical model of diffusion of responsibility, people are less likely to intervene and come to the assistance of someone because they feel less responsible (Garcia, Weaver, Darley, & Moskowitz, 2002). If you witnessed an accident that happened right in front of you, would you drop the something that you are doing to go help? Some people would say yes, and some would say no. There is no right or wrong answer to this, but people think that “yes”, you should drop whatever it is that you are doing and go and help that person or persons that are in trouble. This is the “Bystander Effect”. Psychologists have done studies showing that you as a person, whether or not you should interfere would be determined by on the number of bystanders that were present of the incident. When an emergency situation transpires, witnesses are more than likely going to react a little differently whereas just in an “accident”. The difference between and accident and an emergency is pretty simple and basic, emergency is when somebody would be...
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...People think that if they just saw, but were not involved in the riot, that they are not guilty of anything, but they are wrong. Many times when an act of bullying happens, people usually just stand and watch without saying anything, or in worse case scenario, they make it a bigger scene by cheering on a fight or including themselves into the problem. They then become instigators causing the bullying to begin. Some people may genuinely not know that they are guilty as well for being a bystander in moments like these because they think they are just avoiding the problem by not...
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...Not being a bystander can help someone more than you think. In the novel Night, written by Elie Wiesel, there are several times not being a bystander helps the suffering and endangered. Examples of this are when Elie’s former maid offered the Wiesel family help, Moishe the Beadle warning the Jews, and the french girl consoled Elie when he was badly beaten by Idek. Near the beginning of the movement to the concentration camps, the Wiesel’s maid, Maria, offered the family to go hide in her village:”Maria, our former maid, came to see us. Sobbing, she begged us to come with her to her village where she had prepared a safe shelter”(20). THe maid’s act of risking her life trying to save the Wiesel family is an excellent example of not being...
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...How Does Bullying Have a Positive and/or a Negative Effect on Mental Health? EDF3610 Education in a Multicultural Society Florida Atlantic University Brooke Garber How Does Bullying Have a Positive and/or a Negative Effect on Mental Health? Issue: Does bullying create any psychological effects? How does bullying have a positive and/or a negative effect on mental health? Position: I do believe that bullying has psychological affects to a person's well being. I believe that bullying has a negative and a positive effect on mental health; therefore, I straddle the fence on this issue. Bullying is a growing epidemic that could lead to suicide, self-harm, and self-hatred. On the other hand, a person that is bullied might be able to build tolerance and stand up to that bully. Some children may possibly “bounce back,” but we hear countless stories of bullying gone to extremes, of teasing that ends tragically. According to Beck (2014), "Research shows that bullying victims have higher rates of self-harm, anxiety, and depression during childhood and adolescence" (Problem section, para. 1). Bullying comes in the form of either verbally assaulting face-to-face, direct hitting, indirect or other means that used to gain superiority. Good and bad comes from bullying, however I believe that bullying is more negative than positive on the effects of mental health. Today forms of bullying of escalated drastically due to the development of technology, which has become known as cyber bullying...
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...Ethics and Values Matter How does one know what is right or wrong? Ethics are an individual’s morals, while values are ideas that an individual believes to be important. John Darley and Bibb Latane are the authors of the essay “Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis” which sheds light on the bystander effect and proposes an action plan for bystanders. The essay makes people question their ethical stance on being a bystander and how much they value others. Another essay written by Bill McKibben called “A Modest Proposal to Destroy Western Civilization as We Know It: $100 Christmas” gives a different perspective from the average American Christmas. His perspective causes the reader to rethink how much they value presents on Christmas morning and...
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...Intervening in a Violent Situation Regardless of Gender Identity of Victim Abstract The purpose of this study was to find out whether bystanders to a violent act would react similarly if the victim was a transgender individual versus a heterosexual female. There is little past research on this subject, but what has been done on violence within this community suggests that the violence against them is significant, increasing, and constitutes a serious public health problem in the U.S. (Witten & Eyler, 1997). We chose to analyze answers to questions on three separate vignettes, confidence in intervention choices (Chabot, Tracy, Manning & Poisson, 2009), gender transcendent scores (Baber, K., & Tucker, C. 2006), and transphobia (prejudice, discrimination, and gender-related violence due to negative attitudes toward transgender identity) scores. We sampled 112 students face to face from a small private liberal arts school. Our research showed no significant difference in intervention choices regardless of whether the victim was transgender. There was however a significant positive correlation with the gender transcendent score, verbal intervention, and indirect intervention (e.g. call police/911), but there was no significant correlation between the gender transcendent score and physical intervention. Because rates of violent attacks and hate crimes towards the transgender community are very high (Wilchins, Lombardi, Priesing, & Malouf, 1997) it is important...
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...Gangsberg article for the New York Times newspaper. Several years ago, a young woman was stabbed to death in the middle of a street in a residential section of New York City. Thirty-eight neighbors are known to have heard the commotion. Their voices and bedroom lights interrupted the assault twice, yet nobody came to Kitty’s aid. No one even bothered called the police. Some witnesses admitted that they had not wanted to get involved. One said that he was tired. Some simply said, "I don’t know. The bystander effect is when there is an emergency and people don’t help. People don’t help in an crisis situation because they don’t notice that something is going on, they don’t interpret that events as an emergency, and they don’t decide that they have a personal responsibility. People don’t help in a crisis because they don’t notice something is happening. A quote from the article “Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis” shows how some people have a hard time noticing an emergency. “First the bystander has to notice that something is happening .He must tear himself away from his private thoughts and pay attention,”(Darley). This means that some people have their own problems to worry about. They don’t notice something is wrong because they are so deep into their thoughts. This is significant because it proves how some people can’t help in a crisis. A quote by from Martin Gangsberg in his article “Thirty-Eight who saw Murder Didn’t call the Police” proves that some find it difficult to notice...
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