Nate Bretches
Diffusion of Responsibility and the Bystander Effect Rough Draft “37 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police” (Manning et al.). This is the famous article title written by journalist Martin Gansberg of the New York Times two weeks after the brutal rape and murder of Kitty Genovese (Manning et al.). This case is really quite fascinating. On the early morning of March 13th, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a young woman living in the Kew Gardens district of Queens, New York, was brutally murdered and sexually assaulted by Winston Moseley (Manning et al.). Many people in nearby apartments heard and even witnessed his brutal attack on Ms. Genovese (Manning et al.). According to Gansberg, “For more than a half an hour, thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. Twice, the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, he sought her out and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead” (Manning et al.). This one case would eventually lead social psychologists to develop the principle of diffusion of responsibility or the …show more content…
In other words, people tend to fail to act when confronted with a situation when others are around rather than if they’re alone. For example, if someone is having a seizure in a crowd of people, a person’s ability to act upon that situation (calling 911) is significantly reduced than if they were by themselves with the person having the
Diffusion of Responsibility and the Bystander Effect Rough Draft “37 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police” (Manning et al.). This is the famous article title written by journalist Martin Gansberg of the New York Times two weeks after the brutal rape and murder of Kitty Genovese (Manning et al.). This case is really quite fascinating. On the early morning of March 13th, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a young woman living in the Kew Gardens district of Queens, New York, was brutally murdered and sexually assaulted by Winston Moseley (Manning et al.). Many people in nearby apartments heard and even witnessed his brutal attack on Ms. Genovese (Manning et al.). According to Gansberg, “For more than a half an hour, thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. Twice, the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, he sought her out and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead” (Manning et al.). This one case would eventually lead social psychologists to develop the principle of diffusion of responsibility or the …show more content…
In other words, people tend to fail to act when confronted with a situation when others are around rather than if they’re alone. For example, if someone is having a seizure in a crowd of people, a person’s ability to act upon that situation (calling 911) is significantly reduced than if they were by themselves with the person having the