Thread: Bystander Effect - people watch girl being abducted

OMG. It's crazy that only 1 group of people tried to help in all that time. I told my kids in a situation like that to kick, scream, bite... the little girl could have been being disobedient to a step dad but wtf, find out.

The most famous example of the "Bystander Effect" is the murder of Kitty Genovese

part of me is thinking great informative piece another is thinking yea for perverts to see and now know most people won't interfere with them taking a screaming child in broad daylight.

a billion rep points to the guys willing to help.

Diffusion of responsibility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diffusion of responsibility is a social phenomenon which tends to occur in groups of people above a certain critical size when responsibility is not explicitly assigned. This phenomenon rarely ever occurs in small groups. In tests, groups of three or fewer, everyone in the group took action as opposed to groups of over ten where in almost every test, no one took action. This mindset can be seen in the phrase "No one raindrop thinks it caused the flood". Knowing this, it is always important to respond to emergencies such as a car accident in the light of the mindset, "Well there's so many people driving past this, surely someone has called 911."

why do you think no one interferes or helps though?

i think some may have thought it was her step father, some may have been scared to get shot or stabbed etc, some are so scared of having an awkward social experience that's probably enough to stop them. i don't understand it. even if you don't dare to intervene you can find a cop or make a call or draw attention to others... yell "stop that man, call the police" while taking pictures. even a camera might make a man let go and run.

Originally Posted by Robert D.

why do you think no one interferes or helps though?

There are numerous psychological processes at work when this happens. Sadly, the primary reason is in larger groups, most people are too afraid of what the group will think of them if they make the wrong decision. Everyone in the group is waiting for a leader to emerge to take action so that they may follow. When a group lacks a leader, the entire group will stand around while something terrible happens.

This shows you the importance of free spirits and leaders in society. Let me ask you this? Is it worse that 10 people stood around to let a child be abducted, or a nation standing by as their government commits horrific crimes against man?

The situation is the same.

Originally Posted by KelJu

There are numerous psychological processes at work when this happens. Sadly, the primary reason is in larger groups, most people are too afraid of what the group will think of them if they make the wrong decision. Everyone in the group is waiting for a leader to emerge to take action so that they may follow. When a group lacks a leader, the entire group will stand around while something terrible happens.

This shows you the importance of free spirits and leaders in society. Let me ask you this? Is it worse that 10 people stood around to let a child be abducted, or a nation standing by as their government commits horrific crimes against man?

The situation is the same.

I understand when it's a group of people, I took social psychology in college, but I am talking when its just 1 or 2 people walking by.

Originally Posted by Robert D.

I understand when it's a group of people, I took social psychology in college, but I am talking when its just 1 or 2 people walking by.

In urban areas, people have a feeling that there are always more people out there. The woman said it her self "you feel that someone else will take the blame or responsibility".

Maybe it's a way for people to justify to themselves why they are cowards. It seems she felt that there would be others around to help. Maybe it has to do with the same mental processes that hold our society together. The lowbies are conditioned to not rock the boat while others tell them what to do. When she had to make a decision whether to be confrontational, she ducked her head like a coward and ran, even at the potential cost of a little girls's life.

Also, the act between the girl and man looks like nothing more than a little girl being a brat. A lot of people probably assumed that and kept walking.

i think voting has fallen victim to the bystander effect. "someone else will do it".

there are many people today who are just lazy, heartless, unmotivated, self involved wastes. i think it's hilarious they show the faces of the people who didn't help. maybe there will be enough humanity left in them to feel shame.

Originally Posted by Little Wing

i think voting has fallen victim to the bystander effect. "someone else will do it".

there are many people today who are just lazy, heartless, unmotivated, self involved wastes. i think it's hilarious they show the faces of the people who didn't help. maybe there will be enough humanity left in them to feel shame.

Don't be too hard on them. It takes a lot of balls to do what those guys toward the end did. Most people would have made the wrong decision. I would say cowardice defines humanity no matter how much you don't want to believe it. Fear is the foundation and the driving force of a society. That is why there are so few heroes in the world.

Originally Posted by KelJu

Also, the act between the girl and man looks like nothing more than a little girl being a brat. A lot of people probably assumed that and kept walking.

it seems in a real abduction the girl would be far more hysterical but in some cases there is footage after the fact showing the victim being calmly led away.

Originally Posted by KelJu

Don't be too hard on them. It takes a lot of balls to do what those guys toward the end did. Most people would have made the wrong decision. I would say cowardice defines humanity no matter how much you don't want to believe it. Fear is the foundation and the driving force of a society. That is why there are so few heroes in the world.

maybe there's more to the saying "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" that it initially seems.


"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Originally Posted by KelJu

Also, the act between the girl and man looks like nothing more than a little girl being a brat. A lot of people probably assumed that and kept walking.

that is how it appeared to me.

Originally Posted by KelJu

Also, the act between the girl and man looks like nothing more than a little girl being a brat. A lot of people probably assumed that and kept walking.

Yeah, screaming "you're not my Dad!" just makes her seem like a step-child being bad, kids need to be taught to scream "I don't know this man, HELP! He is kidnapping me...." If she had yelled that then the ambiguity of the situation would have been different and more would have helped, I think the reporters fixed the response in their favor by making the scenario confusing.....

I find it hard to believe that many people would let a child be harmed if they really thought her in danger. Every situation I've been in where someone was in trouble or need help as I ran to them several others were too, from car accidents to the time I saw 2 guys jump on a guy and start beating him on the sidewalk as I ran to help a few other guys grabbed them and held them down until the cops came, then there was the time at a concert where a guy was roughing up his girlfriend and my friends and I were on top of him in a flash....

Originally Posted by shiznit2169

The most famous example of the "Bystander Effect" is the murder of Kitty Genovese

A year before I was born.

In all honestly, the little girls yells aren't that of terror or fear. They sound whinny and pouty...Spending enough time living in a large cities, I hardly ever really listen to other peoples words in situations like that...especially whining kids. Maybe its b/c I don't have kids, but if there is one thing I tune out quicker than day, its a whining kid.

The whole "you're not my dad" thing could be taken as him being a stepdad punishing her for something, it wasn't convincing enough for me to feel certain that he was up to something - which sucks because some kids probably are worse not saying anything (being in shock).

That's a tough situation, it's hard to speculate without having been there.

Wasn't there a video like this a while ago of an old guy dying in the street and nobody helping him or calling an ambulance? Got hit by a car or something?

I don't really think this is the "bystander effect." That involves a fairly large group of people, if my understanding is correct.


Anyway, people these days are idiots. I really don't regard them any more highly than chimpanzees. In DC they broadcast a message over the metro intercom reminding people to cover their mouths if they cough; in another 10 years the message will say "remember not to take a shit until you are sitting on a toilet."

The bums in DC are getting pretty aggressive. I was once walking through an alley near my building an there was a woman walking toward me. This bum was walking slightly in front of me, and he turned around and started following her and saying shit to her. I stopped at the edge of the alley and watched and made sure the guy didn't do anything serious; he eventually turned around and left her alone. Things like this have happened two or three times, I always err on the side of being careful. The least you can do is stop and take a few seconds to make sure things don't escalate.

I carry a .40 cal. I would have wasted the guy and then found out it was staged.