In a classical study conducted by Darley & Latane (1968), the researchers man focus was on bystanders’ response. What causes bystanders to remain silent and/ or speak out about what they witnessed. Using a sample of college students, researchers performed a study under the notion that they were anonymously gathering information on the college experience of students. The real goal of the study was to determine how bystanders react when put into a situation with someone needing help. The researchers asked each of the participants to talk about their experiences, while the others were listening. One ‘participant’ began seizing and asked for help before going silent. The majority of the participants reported to the administrators that a student
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It was later proven that thirty-eight people had not witnessed the rape and stabbing of Kitty Genovese and that only a number of people heard parts of the assault and called in what they witnessed (Griggs, 2015). Despite these findings, Kitty Genovese’s death raised a lot of questions about bystanders and their willingness to come forward. It was out of this incident that the study of bystanders gained its momentum (Lurigio, 2015). While reading the article, there were two additional articles that were mentioned throughout the research, Milgrim & Hollander’s (1968), extensive research into the Kitty Genovese’s story and what exactly happened that night. It was found out that there in fact was witnesses that did not see the entire attack occur but did witness parts and called for help. Also Aronfreed (1964), article on bystanders and their self-criticism of getting involved in situations. What causes bystanders to respond or to remain quiet? It was determined that moral, wanting to do the right thing, and fear, retaliation and safety, were the two leading forces into why bystanders respond or do not respond to emergency situations. These past research studies are used as a foundation for the Darley & Latane’s (1968) study. They mention the back-story of Kitty Genovese as an introduction to their article and then lead into the reasoning for why bystanders sometimes are not willing to help. Leading them to study if the number of witnesses present knowingly or unknowingly has an effect on their willingness to
It was later proven that thirty-eight people had not witnessed the rape and stabbing of Kitty Genovese and that only a number of people heard parts of the assault and called in what they witnessed (Griggs, 2015). Despite these findings, Kitty Genovese’s death raised a lot of questions about bystanders and their willingness to come forward. It was out of this incident that the study of bystanders gained its momentum (Lurigio, 2015). While reading the article, there were two additional articles that were mentioned throughout the research, Milgrim & Hollander’s (1968), extensive research into the Kitty Genovese’s story and what exactly happened that night. It was found out that there in fact was witnesses that did not see the entire attack occur but did witness parts and called for help. Also Aronfreed (1964), article on bystanders and their self-criticism of getting involved in situations. What causes bystanders to respond or to remain quiet? It was determined that moral, wanting to do the right thing, and fear, retaliation and safety, were the two leading forces into why bystanders respond or do not respond to emergency situations. These past research studies are used as a foundation for the Darley & Latane’s (1968) study. They mention the back-story of Kitty Genovese as an introduction to their article and then lead into the reasoning for why bystanders sometimes are not willing to help. Leading them to study if the number of witnesses present knowingly or unknowingly has an effect on their willingness to