how do you feel about the situation? and what would you do?
@midnightdreams (25)
June 21, 2012 9:05am CST
So in psychology class we talked about bystander effect. the bystander effect is where theres a great population of people in a location, but because theres great amount of people, the less likely someone is to help someone in need.
Now the scenario which actually happened in real life is a woman getting murdered. Its night time in the city and a woman is walking home from work, then she realizes someone is following her.She so close to her building she trying to run there as fast as she can. but the guy grabs her and stabs her with a knife. Her scream isnt hard to miss, everyones lights cames on and were looking at her getting stabbed under the lamp light. One man even said "hey Whats going on?" but didnt even bother to come down and help. Now if they didnt want to go down there thats fine but at least they could have called the police but no one did. The woman still trying to stay alive was running for her life. She gets into her own apartment which everyone is watching from. But still no hesitation to help her. the man comes behind her and stabs her to death and leaves. Now this isnt some stranger that dying its a woman who is your neighbor, the one who lives in the same building says good morning to you. when the murdered got caught he confessed that everyone was watching but he knew no one dared to do anything. this was in 1964.
But this is still going on today countless of times, people expecting that they should help the person there are pleanty of other people that can help why should you. But my teacher also pointed out that there are people who say they would help but in reality they dont do anything.
What would you do?
what action would you take if a murder took place in front of your own eyes?
would you depend on other people to help?
or help anyways
this is what happens in bullying too so think clearly
5 responses
@corrycrystal (1775)
• Malaysia
21 Jun 12
It's good to have a discussion like this because it helps us to broaden our mind and knowledge of what to do in time of emergency. I know my mom would do something spontaneously without thinking of her own safety. 
As for me, I would not sit comfortably either if I were in the situation, but honestly, I don't know what my reaction would be if it really happens in front of my very eyes 
, but now what I can think is it depends on where it takes place and if the weapon the attacker is carrying can hurt me from afar or not. If it happens around the neighbourhood and I can slip back inside the house without attracting the attacker's attention, I will definitely alert the police.
For this case, I think because it happened so fast and it was during night time that probably almost everyone was still half asleep, their mind could not think fast until it's too late. 
If the person who asked what's going on warned the man and called the police immediately, I think other people would do something about it, too. I don't know how many people in this scenario and the distance they were from this man, so, I guess, they just felt unsafe if they've made eye contacts with the killer. Sometimes, it's human nature when they hear or see something that they are unsure especially during night time, they will not take the risks and hide inside the house for their own safety unless they feel they are threatened.
As for me, I would not sit comfortably either if I were in the situation, but honestly, I don't know what my reaction would be if it really happens in front of my very eyes , but now what I can think is it depends on where it takes place and if the weapon the attacker is carrying can hurt me from afar or not. If it happens around the neighbourhood and I can slip back inside the house without attracting the attacker's attention, I will definitely alert the police.
For this case, I think because it happened so fast and it was during night time that probably almost everyone was still half asleep, their mind could not think fast until it's too late. If the person who asked what's going on warned the man and called the police immediately, I think other people would do something about it, too. I don't know how many people in this scenario and the distance they were from this man, so, I guess, they just felt unsafe if they've made eye contacts with the killer. Sometimes, it's human nature when they hear or see something that they are unsure especially during night time, they will not take the risks and hide inside the house for their own safety unless they feel they are threatened.
@midnightdreams (25)
•
21 Jun 12
yes i guess it depends on other things. But the strangest part of this whole thing is that it wasnt fast it was more then 5 minutes, it was more like 20 min because the woman didnt die that easily. plus the first time he was stabbing her was under the street lamp. so it was clear. They also questioned the murder about what he saw in the apartment. there was no reason for him to lie he said he did kill her and that mostly all the lights were on and he saw shadows of people. another thing that also amazed me was that when the police asked the neighbors they did confess that they call each other to ask each other what they should do. but yet there was no action taken
@taura2p (349)
• Romania
21 Jun 12
I've studied something similar in sociology. It was about a woman who is sick on the street, she faints, all people gather around her and none of them does anything. In these kind of situations, someone should take the lead and give specific instructions, like:
'You, the man in blue, call the ambulance!'
'You, the man in a white shirt, help me put something under her head!'
'You, the woman in red skirt, take a few steps further. She needs air.'
I think the same should be applied in the case you presented: you call the police, me and you - let's try to stop the man etc.
@midnightdreams (25)
•
21 Jun 12
yes thats what my teacher tolds us if the person spoke to a certain person it is more likely that that person may help
@LovingMyBabies (85288)
• Valdosta, Georgia
21 Jun 12
I think it is terrible that people can just stand there and watch. For some I am sure it is purely shock of what they are actually seeing. For others, they probably just don't want to risk themselves.
Honestly I am a small framed female but I will tell you what, I would grab the biggest something I could find and beat the hell out of the person until they went to the ground. I would hit them where no man wants to be hit as hard as I could. Lol.
I could never possibly live with myself knowing I watched someone die and did nothing. No way. I would rather die trying than to do nothing at all.
I don't understand how those people lived with themselves after doing nothing to help...
@midnightdreams (25)
•
21 Jun 12
Yes i know right? but the thing is some people actually confessed that they had nightmares for a long time, they knew what they did was wrong but they couldnt believe that they just stood there themselves. hahahaha i would totally hit them hard as possible too. lol
@kenshin2143 (1880)
• Philippines
21 Jun 12
That scene would be horrifying seeing a dying person in front of you. However, even I would not make any step to get close to that scene for it is a human nature to stay away from harm and be afraid of being hurt. However, if the scenario would be having many people around, I would not hesitate to help that particular person. But in reality, people stay to the place they are comfortable with. Extending a helping hand is somehow a very difficult thing to do given that fact that you will not get anything in return.
@midnightdreams (25)
•
21 Jun 12
i totally understand what your saying but recently there was another thing that happened similar to this. a guy was waiting for his train at a metro in washington dc. it was crowed busiest time of the day. a few kids came with no weapons or anything and just beat him up. now its super crowded im pretty sure its hard to miss a guy whos screaming help. it was crowded and people were just starring at this scene. this person didnt do anything wrong and he clearly stated that by asking to the kid why are you beating me up i did do anything. i think a group of people can stop a few kid from doing this but people chose not to. and yes i do believe to stay away from harmful situations is human nature but if you know its wrong you can stand up to anything especially if you get more people involved. you know that saying two heads are better then one, and action speak louder then words
@MarkM32 (10)
•
21 Jun 12
I don't know what I would do. If I was in that situation would I go down their? No because i'm not willing to potentially be killed. I might shout down to try to resolve the situation but that might be it. It's really bad no one called but it's a scarey situation to be in. If they knew he wasn't to be messed with, maybe he had a history or track record of violence? I think it's a very brave person to cross a mad man outside carrying a knife. Now i'm surprised no one called the police but at the same time, it was a different world back then. But in general i think it depends on many factors. Yes the people in the building were scared. Would they have acted different if it was their daughter that was murdered? Probably. If someone is mugged say, they're told I think to scream fire as opposed to what it is because people will reacted better to someone screaming fire but bystander effect makes perfect sense. How many people would risk everything when someone else can do it for them?If a murder took place in front of my eyes? I would do what I could but I wouldn't willingly risk my life for it. With all due respect..out of fear out of love for life and maybe i'd have a partner etc. I feel it's a dirty secret. One of those things we know can happen but we don't obsessively think about it, because it's such an evil thing - like a number of things in life. It also depends I feel on if the persons carrying a weapson, if there is enough disance between us to take a picture and run/call the police. However when you do involve yourself, I can imagine mentally the fear and the paranoia at every little noise and so it's not easy to say what we'd do or how we're react, or if we'd react. No one knows. Too many variables at play here.
