On Wednesday, an Associated Press report told of a brutal subway attack in Philadelphia where one man, in front of his young son, attacked a dozing stranger with a hammer. While the man's actions warrant attention at the random barbarism it displayed the real story is with fellow passengers who stood by while the attack happened. Watching the surveillance video, it is apparent that other passengers are present at the start of the attack, yet nobody steps forward in an attempt to stop the assault and the bystanders all watch as the man is beaten in the train, thrown to the platform, and continually attacked while he frantically tries to defend himself. The inaction of people witnessing such emergencies is described as the "bystander effect" and, since the case of Kitty Genovese in the mid-60s, has become an established phenomena in human psychology.
The Death of Kitty Genovese
Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death outside an apartment complex in New York where at least two men saw the attack and several others heard the assault. Her murderer attacked her once, stabbing her repeatedly, left the scene of the crime, and then returned to continue the attack as well as sexually assault her. Only one man called authorities and only after Genovese had been attacked the second time.
The vicious slaying led to several articles targeting the callousness of urbanized areas, the most notable of these appearing in the New York Times. The event also spurred social psychologists to begin studies to help explain what kept the multiple witnesses from coming forward. This led to the establishment of the "bystander effect," better known as "diffusion of responsibility," in psychologists' lexicon.
Diffusion of Responsibility
Diffusion of responsibility, the psychological term for the mental process that creates the bystander effect, is simple enough to understand. When a person is witnessing an emergency from a crowd, psychologists have shown that inaction is justified in the individual's mind by the expectation that someone else from the group will act. Generally, this leads to inaction by the entire crowd as they all expect another person to act. Social psychologists contrast this behavior with emergencies in deserted areas where often people will show a greater willingness to assist in the emergency.
While the diffusion of responsibility is most definately a generalization of human behavior that doesn't account for multiple acts of heroism despite crowds, cases such as Kitty Genovese's and this week's subway attack make a strong case for its prevalence. Even as nothing more than a general psychological response, the bystander effect still exists as an obstacle to the social responsibility needed to effectively combat crime or to act in emergencies and, if only for those reasons alone, deserves attention.
John Leonard Lovik - John is a freelance writer, poet, musician, and artist from the Pacific Northwest. He earned his BA in English, minoring in Political ...
