New York is described as one of the meanest cities in the United States. People go about their days completely oblivious to the lives of others. In 1964 Kitty Genovese was brutally attacked. Her attacker stabbed and raped her. The woman screamed for help throughout the ordeal but none arrived. Witnesses reported hearing the screams but none sought or provided help for the woman. No one was overly concerned. This apathy for the plight of another human being struck researchers Darley and Latene. They decided to direct an experiment at the university where the attack occurred. Students from the school were brought on for the experiment. Each person was brought into a room and told to converse with another over an intercom system. Subjects were…
In society today many people like to “brush off” situations because it’s not their problem or they’re too scared to act. One of the assailant in the story ’38 People Who Saw Murder…
The Kitty Genovese story is a tragic one and is a controversial topic when ethics come into play. Though she screamed for help repeatedly while being stabbed the observers from the surrounding apartments did very little to assist the young woman. One observer in specific did shout “Leave the girl alone” and that deterred the assailant for a brief moment but whether or not he acted ethically is something of a different matter. According to Duty-Base Ethics which by definition states “the doctrine that actions are morally correct if they comply with existing obligations owed another and ourselves,” one could deduct that this observer did not act ethically because he did not serve the duty to Kitty Genovese to save her life as if roles were reversed it would be Kitty Genovese’s ethical duty to ensure the observer’s life was saved. This duty that Kitty Genovese did not receive is the very basic fundamental meaning of one’s life and how we each owe it to one another to try to preserve a fellow human beings life. This can also be translated at the Golden Rule which urges us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us” which is the basis to Immanuel Kant’s ethical reasoning. If the observer had taken the Golden Rule into mind while deciding how to act while this innocent young woman is pleading for help the result could have been a story of heroism instead of tragedy. In order for the Golden Rule to be successful in influencing our ethical behaviors one must place themselves in the situation they are witnessing, contemplate how one would feel in that person’s shoes and struggle and suffering. Obviously this observer was not moved by the Golden Rule and thus did not act ethically according to the Kantian ethical approach.…
In “ Thirty- Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” Martin Gansberg writes about how people didn’t take action when witnessing Miss Genovese getting murder. About a women she was on her way home when a men appeared out of nowhere and stabbed her, and she screamed for help. The neighbors heard her, and didn’t do much to help. One neighbor just shouted when he heard a lot of noises though it didn't help at all. The men stabbed her a second time, and still, no one had helped her until she got stabbed the third time, and had her last breath that she died. Her neighbors that witness everything didn’t take action when the assailant was stabbing the women. It was already late when the ambulance came to help the women, and the neighbors had…
For roughly thirty-five minutes, thirty-eight residents in the apartments that overlooked the street watched from their windows as Kitty Genovese was brutally attacked and continually stabbed. Not a single resident offered assistance or in the least, called the police (Rosenthal 1964). Where does one begin to try and understand this careless disregard for the safety of others? This event is a perfect demonstration of the Bystander Effect. While the residents were watching the attack they also noticed that others were watching. With this knowledge of others’ awareness of the situation, a diffusion of responsibility occurs. “If others are known to be present, but their behavior cannot be closely observed, any one bystander can assume that one of the other observers is already taking action to end the emergency. Therefore, his own intervention would be only redundant---perhaps harmfully or confusingly so…thus convincing himself that ‘somebody else might be doing something’.” (Darley & Latanè 1968-1) This thought that someone else will assist the victim or that another bystander has probably called the police, enters most people’s mind at this stage.…
Some might have even hoped that someone else would have already called the police and they do not need to do anything about. But for Catherine Genovese it was too late, even though she did everything that she could have possibly done to protect herself none of the neighbors sought to help her. She died as example of what would happen if an individual relies on someone else to take action or not pay any attention to details. Individuals should take responsibility if they witness an incident or a crime. The police officers in the Genovese murder believed that if one of the witness call the police when Catherine Genovese was still fighting for her life , she would still be…
“Help! Help! I’m dying..!” Those were the last words Kitty Genovese had said before meeting her demise. In the reading titled “Why Don’t People Help in a Crisis” by John Darley and Bibb Latane, they claim that all witnesses in a situation are indifferent. One of their examples include the famous murder of Kitty Genovese in which thirty-eight witnesses looked at the scene more than once and did nothing about it. “They continued to stare out their windows, caught, fascinated, distressed, unwilling to act but unable to turn away,” says Darley and Latane. Even though people may disagree and say, “Well, if I was a witness I would have done something about the situation,” they can’t deny the fact that Darley and Latane made a very valid point about bystanders. Darley and Latane state that we tend to follow the crowd. The thirty-eight witnesses of the Kitty Genovese case attests to this.…
If someone would have called police after her first, or even second cry for help she would have still been alive. Reading this story made me feel that I should rely on myself more when in dire need, because it’s not for certain that anyone is going to help me. Also from reading this story, makes me reflect more on events in a previous essay I’ve read “Black Men in Public Spaces” by Brent Staples, were a man was heavily judged by his looks. From reading Gansbergs’ story, I further understand why some individuals stereotype, someone could take your life if you’re not…
1. A drive-by shooting occurred in Durham, North Carolina, at 10:14 p.m., Friday, February 12th. During this drive-by an innocent elderly woman was injured and the Durham County Sheriff's Office is looking for any suspects associated with the crime. Local officials claim that the elderly woman was sent to the hospital, Friday night with life-threatening injuries. A 72-year-old woman, whose name was not released, was reported to be wounded while was inside her home at 3017 Forrester St., according to the Sheriff's office. At least two of the women's relatives were also inside the home, but were unharmed. Detectives are currently asking for the public's help to help identify any suspects involved in this unsettling case.…
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At 3:20am on March 13th, 1964, twenty eight year old Catherine Genovese, known to most as Kitty, returned home from her job as a manager at a bar in Hollis (Histories Mysteries, Silent Witnesses). She parked her car in a lot next to the Kew Gardens, in a railroad station. She then began to walk the 100 feet to her apartments front door entrance. Kitty noticed a man at the far end of the lot. She halted and began to walk faster to her apartment on Austin Street. She got as far as a streetlight before the man she had seen grabbed her. Kitty yelled for help, screaming that she had been stabbed. Lights went on in surrounding apartment rooms, and one person yelled at the attacker. The attacker then fled…
Levitt and Dubner begin an argument with a murder crime of a woman called Kitty Genovese. Genovese was attacked by a man in a residential area and died because of the bystander effect. As New York newspaper reported, 38 people saw the murder but no one called the police or stop the assailant. This murder case astonished so many people and some people blamed the 38 residents, thought they're indifferent. Then, writers mention the rise of crime in the USA and analyze three reasons of this situation: the policy of releasing prisoners, post-war baby boom and violent TV show. (98-99) When I read this case, I feel angry about the 38 residents and think they're indifferent. At the same time, I also wonder why the residents are so apathetic. Maybe they thought other people will help Genovese; maybe they didn't…
Despite the dimmed lights, I vividly recall seeing the dark red wine-like blood slowly trickling down my poor mother’s pale complexion as she desperately ventured to defend herself any way she possibly could. In agonistic shouts she demanded I flee the claustrophobic upstairs bedroom my 2 siblings and I shared. But I couldn’t. The overwhelming fear simply paralyzed every fiber of muscle in my scrawny 6 year old body and stopped any attempts I made in aiding my helpless mother. I merely managed to cowardly curl into a protective ball against the furthest reaches of the room as I tensely witnessed these traumatic events unfold. The despicable assailant, Gustavo Arizmendi, was a former well known comrade of my father. From small talk on the job to sharing cold beers after a long day at work, they gradually formed a friendship over the years.…
Ms. Genovese was an ordinary 28 year old, who was brutally murdered on March 13, 1964. She was on her way back home from work when a man attacked her. The attacker chased and stabbed her a few times while she screamed for help. Although there were 38 residents in her building that could hear her, nobody called the police or went downstairs to help her. Her neighbors did very little to save her. A man watching the scene, slid opens his window and yelled at the attacker “Hey! Let that girl alone!!” The attacker heard it and immediately walked away. That was the only help she got and unfortunately that was not enough to save her life. The victim with several wounds struggled to stay conscious and within five minutes the attacker returned and stabbed her again. Once again, Kitty Genovese cried for…
While reading “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the police”, I knew that the people did not bother on calling the police. Honestly, I was impressed by this story because now and days people still do this. I started to pretend I was in this story because the author wanted his audience to have a click while reading. While I was imagining to be a character in this story, I wanted to be that person were to call the police right away and help that victim. This story have caught my attention throughout the story. I really wanted to add details to this because it was interesting to know that people around us won't step up for help for other. When the victim was getting attack by the stalker, this guy came out of his window saying “Let the girl alone” (128) to the stalker and the person who call out to that stalker just went back to sleep. I wanted to scream at that person because he told the stalker to let her go but he did not bother calling the police because he was tried. I wanted to asked that person if he was the victim and his neighbor tried helping him by saying “let him go'', would you be so angry that no one bother to call the cops on you. I would rather help the victim by calling the cops , instead of tons of guilt when I don't save that person. Thirty-Eight who saw the crime should have helped her by calling the cops because it is much better to feel care to other. If they care, the next something goes wrong they can be heroes like the same way they did to that victim. This people that called the police at the last minute felt like they were in a movie were their role was to be silent when a stranger tries to attack a victim and they will pretend that they did not know it was a bad situation. The author, Martin Gansberg wants to make a point were we help others and they can do the same actions as we did. He wanted us to know that stepping…