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Post by aroloff on Apr 12, 2016 4:50:33 GMT
1. I recently watched the film Outrage (1950) by Ida Lupino, and it seemed to me to have a pretty good example of the bystander effect in miniature. Spoilers follow, I guess. The scene (which you can see here if you want: here) deals with the chase and eventual (implied) rape of a young woman; the pursuer chases her through the empty night streets, lit only by street lamps and devoid of life. She tries to hide near a construction yard/apartment building (perhaps it's more of a condo or brownstone-type building), but accidentally sets off a car alarm, alerting her pursuer to her location. She stumbles while trying to run away, and seems to fall unconscious. As the man approaches, the camera cranes back and up, revealing an open window; a man approaches, sticks his head out to look around, and promptly shuts the window. 2. Another pretty good example of the bystander effect in cinema/television is the finale of Seinfeld, which involves the four main characters witnessing a carjacking and, instead of helping, cracking jokes about the poor guy being robbed (Kramer even films it). They're arrested and tried because of their failure to help (breaking a new “Good Samaritan” law). 3. The man who killed Kitty Genovese (the “first” bystander effect case, which brought a lot of attention to the phenomenon and which is referenced in the Darley and Latane article), Winston Moseley, just recently died in prison only two weeks ago! Just something interesting. 4. On the Wikipedia page for the bystander effect, it lists some cases where people have come into the hospital and waited in the waiting room for hours or days, only to die there without even being helped. I just thought these were particularly disturbing cases, especially that of Esmain Green, a woman who went to a hospital in Brooklyn, waited for 24 hours until she collapsed and was still not helped for an hour! It's just shocking that even the responsibility of care-givers like doctors and nurses at a hospital is so diffused that someone could literally be passed out on the floor, potentially dead, and no one would stop to help her. After the fact, I'm realizing that this post isn't especially conducive to discussion, so here's a question: can you think of any other examples of the bystander effect in art/literature/film/TV? Another question: do you think the severity of the emergency matters at all in cases of the bystander effect? For example, would people be more likely to respond if there was a very loud murder/rape occurring than if it were a less obvious crime or emergency, like a quiet (non-violent/combative) back-alley mugging or a man snatching someone's bag? |
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Post by vannahyazon on Apr 12, 2016 5:27:38 GMT
I mean like i have an anime example, but it has more to do with emotional bystander effects instead of an actual crime. In Naruto (ha-ha laugh if y'all want, I'm bringing out the childhood), the namesake protagonist Naruto, was ostracized for having a nine-tailed fox demon inside him and no one in the village even bothered to get to know him because of what was inside of him regardless of the kind of person he was. But because people like Hinata would be bystanders and want to be friends with him, but make no moves to become friends, Naruto spent his entire childhood lonely and depressed.
To answer the second question, i feel like the severity does matter, but that doesn't mean the bystander themselves would go and help themselves. It really also depends if the bystander is old or young, fit or not, male or female etc. If the bystander is confident enough in their physicality to help, in a severe situation, they could go and help hands on. If the bystander is not burly enough etc. they could be prompted in a severe emergency to call 911. Very loud things are obviously also more attention drawing, so there is also the pull to be heroic, because more people could even be drawn to the scene but quieter scenarios can be more dangerous, and the bystander is more wary because they could get into trouble especially again in they are not physically well-off.
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Post by stacyli on Apr 12, 2016 6:56:54 GMT
Dat Naruto reference tho LOL
Over spring break I binge watched both Jessica Jones and Daredevil season 2 (both 10/10 Marvel series you can watch on Netflix), which I feel demonstrate the bystander effect pretty well. In both series the protagonists, Jessica Jones and Daredevil respectively, try to battle this bystander effect by becoming the heroes that step up above other people and take action when others don't. Of course, Jessica Jones and Daredevil are also not exactly average individuals, but they still actively help others in danger when nobody else can/will. Jessica Jones is a private investigator actively trying to solve other people's criminal or dangerous situations and takes on cases all linked to larger crimes. Using her super strength and wit, she is able to track down crimes and help people in many situations where help is not present. Daredevil plays a similar role in his show. Being the blind streetfighter/lawyer he is, uses his hyper senses to detect panic and danger all across the city and even actively states throughout the show that he is "the hero this city needs." All in all they are both, if anything, exceptions to the bystander effect and are icons that should inspire bystanders to take action when others don't.
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rkipp
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Post by rkipp on Apr 13, 2016 5:41:26 GMT
vannahyazonI agree with your response to the second question. To add on, I found it interesting how the "Bystander Intervention in Emergencies" article discussed two intervention techniques used by people: direct and report intervention. In regards to those techniques, I think the more serious the crime/emergency, the more likely people will undergo report intervention so as not to put themselves in danger but still attempt to help. Yet, I think direct intervention would lessen (for the same reason of staying safe). I think that humans would like to help others, but ultimately they are going to put their own safety first.
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dalia
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Post by dalia on Apr 13, 2016 6:45:25 GMT
Your post reminded me of a TV show I watched a couple of years ago. I can't remember its name, but one of the main themes it tried to convey was how differences in social status/class can lead to tragic differences in treatment, even in professional settings. In the show, the main event that sets the plot into motion is when a lady walks (mother of two) walks into a hospital after having a medical emergency. However, she is poor and wasn't able to pay and so wasn't allowed into the emergency room. Basically, she just lay in the waiting room and eventually died, and no one even looked at her or tried to ask for help. Although the purpose isn't to to bring to light the bystander effect, I think that this definitely serves as an example of one.
Mentioning the previous example also reminded me of another TV show I watched more recently.The main event was that a young,beautiful rich woman had her purse robbed on the street. No one did anything to help except for one guy ( who later turns out to be poor and somewhat irrational).
I think it would be really interesting to see if socioeconomic factors have any influence on the bystander effect as it definitely is prominent in the tv show examples I watched.
To answer your second question, I think that people might actually be less prone to help when the crime is loud/big. Actually, about a year ago I heard about a murder that happened where a guy got into a conflict with another guy in the middle of the street which was somewhat crowded. People saw them fighting but no one stepped in, and the fight grew and ended up with one of them killing the other. A couple days later, different awareness videos came up in the news explaining why this happened. There were many people on the street and it was even recorded, but instead of helping, they all stood and watched or even took pictures! Basically, when its a big event, each person tends to think that "someone's going to eventually step in and do something" except that if everyone thinks that, then no one really ends up helping. Another reason was that people were ignorant and thought that if they helped, then they would be implicating themselves in the fight, and of course, no one would want to do that, especially for two guys they saw on the street whom they don't even know. However, if the event is small, then a person might be more willing to help because they'll think that they might be the only person around/witnessing it (like some crime in an alley).
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Post by eddiegonz on Apr 13, 2016 7:30:59 GMT
stacyli I love those references and i cant wait for the second season of Jessica Jones that comes out in the near future!! But regarding the bystander effect, I agree that is is often displayed in these superhero shows/ scenarios. Think of all the super hero shows that have surfaced. Legends of tomorrow, Arrow, The Flash, Izombie, Batman, and the ones you mentioned. These heroes act against villainous crimes and serve as the voice of justice. But they aren't the only one that witness the massive murders and the havoc the villains release on the cities. Maybe a factor in the bystander effect is the people could only do so much to have an influence over the situation. If people are witnessing monsters that are terrorizing the city and killing off most of the population, one's response would either be to call the police or just scream out the window "OMG. SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!" But really, what good would that do? In these fictional words, we look up to these heroes to be the representative voice to do something about it. Maybe some people are just bystanders to a situation because they feel like their contribution to solving the issue is minimal. When being an observer to a situation, people can be in conflict on whether they want to act because other people may be present or they may evaluate whether their action is helpful depending on the scenario. However in these fictional worlds, these people serve as the "go to people" and are representative figures to bring justice. People are actually seen as going to these people for advice on their problems. People's response to the scenario is to go see these people and hope they can do something about the villains. Is it possible that we may need these heroic figures in contemporary society so that people see their role in acting as vital? and would this have any effect on the bystander phenomena.
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