Bystander Effect Theory

A lost child is wandering around Times Square, whimpering and crying for her parents. All of a sudden, a man dashes up and snatches her, dragging her to his car. In the driver’s seat he brandishes a gun, warning everyone to not follow. Even though there were many people at the scene of the crime, no one did anything. They were afraid of what the man would do them, or maybe they just didn’t want to get involved, didn’t want to take responsibility, didn’t want to deal with the work needed. Many people suggest that bystanders stay uninvolved because of theories such as the bystander effect and the fact that bystanders simply don’t know what’s happening, that they are not aware of the problem. However, theories such as the bystander effect are
In the “Dying Girl” article about the death of Catherine Genovese, all of the 38 witnesses and neighbors did not take action because they didn’t want to take responsibility. As Police Lieutenant Bernard Jacobs says, “People told us they just didn’t want to get involved, they don’t want to be questioned or have to go to court.” When witnesses were questioned they said things such as, “[The police] might have picked me up as a suspect...”. The witnesses decided that stepping in wasn’t worth it, that possibly saving someone’s life. In “The Moral Dilemma In Witnessing Acts Of Violence” by Michel Martin, states that bystanders faced a dilemma when caught in a situation where a stranger needed help. Martin says that many bystanders stay indifferent “under the theory that the act of bearing witness is its own moral act”. Martin suggests that simply being a witness is an act in its own, and that in itself should be enough. These bystanders in both scenarios didn’t want to deal with the repercussions and extra work with dealing with the situation, so they decided to not act at all, leaving someone who was in dire need all alone. The witnesses didn’t want to deal with the repercussions and extra work with dealing with the situation, so they decided to not act at