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Bystanders’ Reaction to Violence

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Submitted By gigilus
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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 screaming through the window; ‘leave the woman alone’. If the reasons afore mentioned are taken into account in this particular case, then the onlookers could and should have done more based on the fact that; they were not in harm’s way- they were in their homes, the screams and cries clearly indicated that this was an emergency and they could have placed an anonymous call. Their reasons for doing nothing we will never know; what we do know is this, by doing nothing the bystanders played a role in the death of Kitty Genovese and that if they had done something about it, Genovese’s life may have been saved.
In the rape case, the witnesses were not charged as accomplices because they were considered minors; neither were the thirty-eight bystanders in the Genovese murder. Witnesses and bystanders who do nothing should be held as responsible as the perpetrators. We are becoming a cold and callous society, a product of the rigors and demands of the fast pace of life that comes with modernization. The onus should be placed on bystanders to report an act of crime as it is happening. A need for communal responsibility needs to be emphasized. Laws need to be put in place dictating that bystanders who witness a crime and do nothing, be charged with an offence. Just as the innocent party whose only link to the convenience store hold up is being in the getaway car is charged as an accomplice; so should the bystander. There is no innocent bystander.
Most people think the only ways to help when witnessing a crime is to be involved in the attack physically, keep looking, or walk away. This stand, watch and do nothing attitude of bystanders is becoming the norm rather than the exception. As a result, across the country, bystander education and awareness campaigns are being developed to educate people about the need to act in such instances. The aim of these programs is to send the message that, they are morally responsible.
Bystanders should be liable and held accountable. While this by no means suggest that when bystanders get involved it would totally eradicate crime; it would result in a decrease in the number of episodes. The attackers are part of the society and are obviously aware of the indifference of the bystanders. Knowing that they can carry out their attacks without any obstruction from the bystanders gives them the confidence to do just that at will. If a bystander getting involved becomes a norm, it would at least curtail the number of violence that occur in seemingly crowded places.
Due to the selfish and individualistic nature of the human race, laws need to be in place requiring that personal reasons and comfort be disregarded when a violent crime is witnessed. The only thing that should matter is the victim. Bystanders should make a choice, be the victim and act in defense or be the assailant and do nothing.
Works Cited
Newsweek Magazine, October 2009
www.CNN.com

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