In the Unlikely Event of a Water landing
Tragedies such as murder and rape are thought to be horrendous crimes; acts so violent and malicious that the perpetrators must spend their lives in prison to pay their dues, but these crimes occur so often they rarely make headlines anymore. Every once in a while a big “story” will hit the news and the masses will cry out in outrage but even then the outrage dies down and the victims are forgotten. Many times there are witnesses to these crimes that do not act. In the third chapter, “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing”, of Lauren Slater’s book Opening Skinner’s Box she references such a murder, that of Catherine Genovese. Miss Genovese’s death received the typical four lines in the newspaper and was quickly forgotten. Had it not been for A. M. Rosenhal the country may never have been changed by the knowledge that the vicious crime against Catherine Genovese was witnessed by not one or two people but by Thirty eight. These thirty eight people did nothing to stop the murder and rape of Catherine Genovese. According to Slater, John Darley, and Bibb Latane these thirty eight witnesses did nothing because of the bystander effect. This chapter of Slater’s book …show more content…
Break away from the group. Identify the problem, take responsibility and act. Acting can save a life. It can change history. It is our most difficult task. To act, a person must leave the group and the group mentality and see the situation as a whole. One, according to Darley and Latene, will act when they know of the five stages. I say a person act when he or she is compelled to. People are not born knowing the five stages. Millions die never having heard of them. This does not mean that they will never help someone in crisis or act when action is needed. It comes down to the individual. Which one will break away and do what society will later deem as “right” and which one will stand at the window and
Tragedies such as murder and rape are thought to be horrendous crimes; acts so violent and malicious that the perpetrators must spend their lives in prison to pay their dues, but these crimes occur so often they rarely make headlines anymore. Every once in a while a big “story” will hit the news and the masses will cry out in outrage but even then the outrage dies down and the victims are forgotten. Many times there are witnesses to these crimes that do not act. In the third chapter, “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing”, of Lauren Slater’s book Opening Skinner’s Box she references such a murder, that of Catherine Genovese. Miss Genovese’s death received the typical four lines in the newspaper and was quickly forgotten. Had it not been for A. M. Rosenhal the country may never have been changed by the knowledge that the vicious crime against Catherine Genovese was witnessed by not one or two people but by Thirty eight. These thirty eight people did nothing to stop the murder and rape of Catherine Genovese. According to Slater, John Darley, and Bibb Latane these thirty eight witnesses did nothing because of the bystander effect. This chapter of Slater’s book …show more content…
Break away from the group. Identify the problem, take responsibility and act. Acting can save a life. It can change history. It is our most difficult task. To act, a person must leave the group and the group mentality and see the situation as a whole. One, according to Darley and Latene, will act when they know of the five stages. I say a person act when he or she is compelled to. People are not born knowing the five stages. Millions die never having heard of them. This does not mean that they will never help someone in crisis or act when action is needed. It comes down to the individual. Which one will break away and do what society will later deem as “right” and which one will stand at the window and