On March 13, 1964, Catherine Genovese was stabbed repeatedly and killed by a man and it all could have been avoided had the numerous amounts of neighbors, from half a dozen to 30 people, reported the act to the police. The idea that is exhibited in this example is know as the bystander effect. It was once thought that people do not intervene in horrible acts because people were less caring. John Darley and Bibb Latane later said it was due to a feeling frozen in a certain situation. One contribution to this feeling is pluralistic ignorance, which believes that people are not seeing things as we do. This could be in a situation where we understand that there is a need to help someone, while others do not. The second factor that contributes to the "freezing" feeling is diffusion of responsibility. This states that people feel responsible when they are with more people.
Picture of Catherine Genovese
One example that comes to mind is when my family and I traveled to Los Angeles for spring break. We walked down to Venice Beach and along the way we saw a little boy crying and looking around for his family. I watched as numerous people walked by and I also felt "frozen" and did not intervene. However, my brother was willing to ask the boy and his family was near by. An additional example was in the news not to long ago. The video shows a young girl walking on the street in China when a vehicle strikes her and then the driver drives away. Numerous people walk past and do not stop to help the girl as she lies in the street. The bystander effect is sad to me in the sense that people find it difficult to help someone that might be in need and I am curious to why people feel challenged to intervene in maters such as these.
Video for Bystander Effect in China