Social Psychology - Bystander Effect - Case Study Example

Social Psychology: Bystander Effect (Genovese Syndrome) The probability of help demonstrated by people in emergency situation is inversely proportional to the number of bystanders present at the time of emergency which is referred as the Bystander effect or Genovese syndrome. In other words, the social psychological phenomenon, Bystander effect or Genovese syndrome refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any help in an emergency situation when other people are present. The causes of bystander effect are studies by many researchers and social psychologists and they concluded that the presence of others in emergency situations may force a person to think that others may extend help to the person in need. In other words, nobody wants to get into an emergency situation if any other option left. This paper briefly analyses the bystander effect and how to prevent it History & stories of Bystander effect Social psychologists Bibb Latane and John Darley in 1968 conducted an experiment to study to analyze the behaviors of people in emergency situations. In one experiment, subjects were placed in one of three treatment conditions: alone in a room, with two other participants or with two confederates who pretended to be normal participants.As the participants sat filling out questionnaires, smoke began to fill the room. When participants were alone, 75% reported the smoke to the experimenters. In contrast, just 38% of participants in a room with two other people reported the smoke. In the final group, the two confederates in the experiment noted the smoke and then ignored it, which resulted in only 10% of the participants reporting the smoke (Cherry) Bystanders often check the reactions of others when an emergency occurs. Decision making in emergency situations by a bystander will always depends on the responses of others present in the scenario. On the other hand, if nobody present in an emergency situation, a bystander would take decisions immediately and act quickly. For example, suppose a drunkard asking for help to a person in a pathetic condition. That bystander may extend help to that drunkard if he is alone. On the other hand, if a drunkard asking help to a group of bystanders, sometimes none of them may like to help him. In social psychology, the above obstacle in intervention is referred as diffusion of responsibility. Diffusion of responsibility means a situation in which a bystander thinks that his responsibility to interfere in an emergency matter would be less if others are present in that emergency situation. Apart from diffusion of responsibility, there are other reasons also for bystander effect. In many cases, people will assume that others may have more skills and qualification in interfering in emergency situations. For example, consider a person is drowning in a river. If more people present in that situations, one would assume that others know swimming better than him and they will rescue the drowning person. On the other hand, if nobody was present in that scenario the bystander may try everything possible to rescue the sinking person. In many of the countries, bystanders who rescue the persons from an accident site need to report to the police as part of the investigation process of the accident by the police. Many people like to avoid police interrogations and hence they will not act properly to rescue a person from an accident. Suppose a heart patient does suffer a cardiac arrest, while driving the vehicle. If a bystander tries to admit him in a hospital, the hospital authorities will collect all the information about the bystander first before giving treatment to the patient. In case of his death, the police will also interrogate him in order to know the truth. In such cases, people will think twice before saving the life of a person. Kitty Genovese" & "Hugo Alfredo" cases Social psychologists use Kitty Genovese" & "Hugo Alfredo" cases in order to explain the bystander effect clearly. On Friday, March 13, 1964, 28-year-old Genovese was returning home from work. As she approached her apartment entrance, she was attacked and stabbed by a man later identified as Winston Moseley.Despite Genovese’s repeated cries for help, none of the dozen or so people in the nearby apartment building who heard her cries called police to report the incident. The attack first began at 3:20 AM, but it was not until 3:50 AM that someone first contacted police (Cherry). Kitty Genovese murder was happened in 1964 and we can assume that the society was not much advanced or civilized at that time. But such excuses cannot be cited in the case of Hugo Alfredo murder case as it was happened in this year on April 18th. “Hugo Alfredo was stabbed several times in the chest while saving a woman from a knife-wielding attacker” (Dozens Walk Past Dying Hero Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax On New York Sidewalk). Even though dozens of people walked by, nobody seems to be interested in rescuing Hugo Alfredo. In fact one of the bystanders photographed the dying moments of Hugo Alfredo using his mobile phone. In other words, people lost their morality completely and instead of saving the life of a person, they are trying to make money and fame even out of death. People become so mechanical and too professionals in the current century. How to prevent bystander effect According to the charter of humans rights and freedoms from Quebec, Canada, “Every human being possesses intrinsic rights and freedoms designed to ensure his protection and the rights and freedoms of the human person are inseparable from the rights and freedoms of others” (CHARTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS, p.1). Live and let live should be the slogan adopted by people in a civilized society. People should realize that human is a social animal and no human can survive in this world alone for a longer period. The principles of globalization has implemented in the current world because of the late awareness of the people with respect to the necessity of cooperation in human life. Even communist China has established strong relationships with the capitalist country America now, because of the above awareness. In short, selfishness has lost importance in the present world and mutual cooperation or collective growth became the new slogan at present. People should realize that life is important for everybody. There is no difference in the architecture of an American’s life and an Indian’s life. There is no difference between the blood of ours and that of the others. Morality and ethics have been slowly disappearing from our society. The only way of avoiding bystander effect is to educate the people the necessity of morality and ethics in human life. People should realize that human life is the most important thing in this world and once it is lost nobody can give it back. People should realize that no scientists or technologists so far succeeded in developing an artificial life in a laboratory setup. “The psychological community has developed a five-step, cognitive model for avoiding the Bystander Effect: Notice something is happening; Interpret the situation as an emergency; Assume personal responsibility; Choose a form of assistance; Implement assistance” (Bystander Effect) Conclusions Even though, the world has developed a lot scientifically and technologically, same thing cannot be said about the advancements in humanity and morality. Selfish motives were increased a lot and people became too professionals nowadays. The increasing incidents of bystander effects point towards the reality that we are going back to the former uncivilized culture. Helping others should be considered as a sacred act rather than a problematic one. Works Cited 1. “Bystander Effect”. 2001. BBC.co.uk. Web. 28 November 2010. 2. Cherry, Kendra. “The Bystander Effect.” 2010. Web. 28 November 2010. 3. “CHARTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS.”2009. Web. 28 November 2010. 4. “Dozens Walk Past Dying Hero Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax On New York Sidewalk”. 2010. Web. 28 November 2010. Read More