For several decades, Kitty Genovese has been famous to many psychology students, psychologists, and anyone interested in psychology. Kitty was an American woman who became famous for her murder. She was stabbed to death in New York. What was so interesting about his murder was the reaction of his neighbors, which caused a psychological phenomenon to be named: the bystander effect or “Genovese syndrome.”
On March 13, 1964, Kitty was driving home around 3.15 a.m. He parked about 30 meters from his front door. As she walked to her door, Winston Moseley approached her. Moseley caught up with her and stabbed her twice in the back. Kitty screamed. Several neighbors heard her screams. But it was a cold night, many had their windows closed and few recognized it as a cry for help. One of the neighbors yelled at Moseley, “Leave that girl alone.” Moseley ran away and Kitty headed for her apartment. Kitty was seriously injured, in full view of her neighbors, but no one helped her.
Some called the police, but it was not given a high priority, as it was thought that they “just” beat her. Witnesses watched Moseley get into his car and drive away. Then he came back ten minutes later to find Kitty barely conscious at the back of the building. Out of sight, he grabbed her again and stabbed her several more times. He tried to defend himself, as evidenced by the knife wounds on his hands. He sexually assaulted her while she was dying. He also stole money from her and let her die. The attacks lasted more than half an hour.
A few minutes later, a witness called the police. The police and the ambulance arrived, but she died on the way to the hospital.
Later, the media reported that 38 people had either witnessed or heard his attack. The New York Times published an article: “Thirty-eight who saw a murder did not call the police.” This sparked a media frenzy and a lot of psychological research. What had possessed these witnesses that they did NOTHING while Kitty was stabbed and killed?
Kitty’s murder also led to a psychological investigation. This psychological phenomenon became known as bystander apathy, the bystander effect, or Genovese syndrome. Basically it is a phenomenon in which someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when other people are present and can help, than if they were alone.
An individual is more likely to intervene only if someone needs help – bystander intervention. In 1968, John Darley and Bibb Latane studied the bystander effect in the laboratory. They left a participant alone in a room and told them to communicate with other participants through an intercom. Actually, I was just talking to a recording. During the study, a participant suddenly pretends to have a seizure. They found that the amount of time that passes before the person seeks help varies depending on the number of participants perceived to be nearby. In other words, the more people we think are also witnessing an event, the slower the person will be to deal with the situation on their own. So if you have a large group of people observing an emergency, we would expect them to be less likely to help; We hope others will help!
Other examples of this bystander effect have been shown. In 1972, Wolfgang Friedmann was assassinated in broad daylight and bled to death. In 1995, Deletha Word died after witnesses failed to arrest her attacker. James Bulger was also another highly publicized case, where James was abducted from a busy shopping mall.
Why did this happened? There is another psychological idea of diffusion of responsibility, which leads to social laziness. People may assume that others in the group are better qualified to help than they, for example. A doctor, a police officer, etc., so they are not necessary. They may not want to “lose face” to others in the crowd, when a “superior” helper offers help instead. Another suggestion is for people to observe the reactions of others in a crowd to see how they are reacting to the emergency situation. They use this to decide whether to intervene. However, if everyone else in the crowd is doing the same, is anyone going to help?
So what do you do if you are the one attacked? The best suggestion is to pick a specific person from the crowd and ask them to “call the police” so you know that it is YOUR responsibility.
So let’s get back to Kitty. His death led to an overhaul of the New York Police Department’s telephone reporting system. It led to a lot of media coverage on how we respond to emergencies. It led to a lot of psychological research. Kitty’s death also led to the formation of Neighborhood Watch Schemes. So Kitty’s death produced some good and useful results.
However, a new investigation has suggested that Kitty’s murder did not go as reported. In reality, there were only 12 witnesses, not the 38 reported. In 2007, three British investigators have investigated this murder again. Manning, Levine and Collins have contested this iconic event. They have found no evidence of the presence of 38 witnesses, when examining documents of the time. They have been unable to find evidence that the witnesses were inactive.
The story of Kitty Genovese has become an urban myth or a modern parable that tells us how to deal with emergency aid. The research of Manning, Levine, and Collins will be an interesting addition to all psychology students and teachers alike. New textbooks will be out soon for sure !!!