Research on Bystander Effect

Bystander Effect In an emergency or crisis, the more bystanders there are, the less likely it is that any of them will actually help. A lot of the times bystanders will assume there is nothing because nobody else seems concerned. Bystanders will notice the event, realize the emergency, assume responsibility, and know what to do or not and last but not least act. John M. Darley and Bibb Latane claim even if a person defines an event as an emergency, the presence of other bystanders may still make him less likely to intervene. Bystanders should help if there is a bad emergency or crisis that they have witnessed. Once a bystander notices something that does not seem right to them, they then have to decide if the event is an emergency or not. Most of the time bystanders will look around to see if someone else is going to help first. Depending on how everyone else reaction is, the bystander usually reacts if others are reacting. If no one seems to notice the bystander will pretend nothing is happening also. Bibb Latane and John M. Darley states a woman trips and breaks her leg while shopping. The woman calls out for help, but everyone around ignored her. How could so many bystanders watch this woman in distress and not help her at all? Latane and Darley also claim that Kitty Genovese was attacked by a maniac as she returns home from work. They also said thirty eight of her neighbors came to their window when they heard her crying for help, but no one helped her. The woman’s attacker took about thirty minutes before she finally dies and no one still so much as called the