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Literature review on bystander effect
Literature review on bystander effect
Literature review on bystander effect
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There is no easy answer for why people kill. The reasons can span from political ties to different cultural upbringings, but the main reasons lie within the axons and dendrites of the brain. Psychology plays a huge role in explaining how and why one can justify mass murder in their minds. There is a phenomenon known as group polarization that can describe the reasons behind the extreme mindsets of the Nazis, Indonesian paramilitary forces, and members of the Hutu extremist group, akazu. According to Renée Grinnell, group polarization is “a phenomenon wherein the decisions and opinions of people in a group setting become more extreme than their actual, privately held beliefs” (Grinnell). This can be seen in the mass marches and chants of the …show more content…
While watching the documentary, I noticed many psychological aspects. First of all, it seemed like everyone was conditioned to believe a certain way. For example, at one point in the movie everyone talked about the communists like they weren’t even human. This dehumanization method can be seen in many mass killings and genocides. When this happens, and society begins to learn this way of thinking, it is almost impossible to …show more content…
Indonesia thrives on gang activity and foolish men that don’t know the true definition of gangster. Also, the Indonesian gangsters or preman seem to be in constant denial of what happened decades ago. This denial is mostly because of the fact that no one really questioned them of their wrongdoings until now. When they sit and actually think about what happened and the endless families that they separated because of alleged communism, most realize what they did was wrong. Some on the other hand will not realize this because they were raised in that way of thinking and their minds are not as malleable anymore. Something that is common between all of these genocides is the bystander effect. In psychology, the bystander effect “occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation” (“Psychology”). From the German and Polish people not intervening in holocaust to the Indonesian gangsters rallying against the communists, without the mass number of psychosomatic people, none of this would have occurred like it
As typical human beings we all want to know why someone could randomly take the lives of several innocent people all at one time. It is frightening and scientists figure if they can figure out why, then it can be prevented in the future. The documentary, Mind of a Rampage Killer, tries to solve the mystery and really dive deep into the minds of people who could potentially create such a horrifying situation. Through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, this documentary concludes that every killer had something in common; they all struggled with mental disorders, depression, or outbursts of violence, all stemming from early childhood or an internal battle throughout growing up, some could have even just been born with a violent rage.
It’s not that uncommon for people to kill each other, and it happens every day. What is not common, is for someone to kill for no apparent reason. Typically there has to be some sort of benefit behind the murder. Whether that may be to get that out of their way for some reason, or to get something that they want. This article was meant to show resemblance between serial killers and your average everyday murderers. He brings up serial killer Lou Ford as an example of someone who acts as if they are normal, yet deep inside are very dangerous minded. Instead of using his physical attributes to murder people, he satisfies his needs by psychologically tormenting people. He does this as long as he possibly can, but there is only so much they can take of
These genocides are also similar in many ways, two of which are their government overthrows and who they killed. The Cambodian Genocide and the Holocaust are unique in the areas of reason and aftermath. Hitler wanted to create a “Master Race” (“Holocaust”). He also wanted to exterminate the Jewish population because he believed they “hindered” population growth (“Some”).... ...
The intentional murder of an enormous group of people is near unthinkable in today’s society. In the first half of the twentieth century, however, numerous authoritarian regimes committed genocide to undesirables or others considered to be a threat. Two distinct and memorably horrific genocides were the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany and the Holodomor by the Soviet Union. In the Holocaust, The Nazis attempted to eradicate all European Jews after Adolf Hitler blamed them for Germany’s hardship in recent years. During the Holodomor, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union attempted to destroy any sense of Ukrainian nationalism by intentionally starving and murdering Ukrainian people. The two atrocities can be thoroughly compared and contrasted through the eight stages of genocide. The Holocaust and Holodomor shared many minor and distinct similarities under each stage of genocide, but were mainly similar to the methods of organization, preparation, and extermination, and mainly differed
Imagine yourself going out to a neighborhood party trying to relax after a stressful week. You might want to socialize, drink, or watch television. Now try to think about the penalties that can occur when the party gets out of control such as loud outbursts, fighting, and physical behavior. Depending on the setting of the party, there could be a possible chance of violence happening. In this case, the violent actions can result to homicides, shootings, and suicides. Homicides can vary based on age, gender, race, and methods of killing the victim. Shootings are quick reactions to dealing with victim. Suicides result to choosing to kill one’s life. Overall, there are different reasons to why individuals feel the need to kill someone else. It
...ople don’t want to believe it’s happening. Some people now in days chose to not listen and ignore bad things that are happening to keep themselves at peace, and some just flat out don’t care. Genocides that are still occurring and many corrupt leaders use the same tactics as Hitler. Psychological conditioning makes people believe something when it’s actually wrong. Reinforcing negative thoughts and repeating over and over that what they are doing is okay, keeps these crimes of genocide alive. Indifference is ironically one of the worst emotions because it isn’t emotion. It’s the thought that people don’t matter. For many, Jews didn’t matter.
...he human depravity one can imagine. Even though Genocide did not begin with the Holocaust, Germany and Adolf Hitlers’ heartless desire for “Aryanization” came at the high cost of human violence, suffering and humiliation towards the Jewish race. These warning signs during the Holocaust, such as Anti-Semitism, Hitler Youth, Racial profiling, the Ghettos, Lodz, Crystal Night, Pogroms, and Deportation unraveled too late for the world to figure out what was going on and help prevent the horrors that came to pass. The lessons learned from all of this provide a better understanding of all the scars genocide leaves behind past and present. In spite the ongoing research in all of these areas today, we continue to learn new details and accounts. By exploring the various warning signs that pointed toward genocide, valuable knowledge was gained on how not to let it happen again.
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
Both of these cases share similar characteristics, but because the genocides differed in motivations and certain key mechanisms, it can be concluded that each case holds its own uniqueness, therefore the differences outweigh the
Smith, Scott. "Psychology: Mental Illness Reason Behind Most Mass Murders." Capital-Gazette Newspapers [Annapolis] 3 Oct. 2013: n. pag. NewsBank Special Reports. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
They are all motivated to for different reasons; some kill to gain or exert power over the victims, entertainment or mission. Some kill because they believe they have the responsibility to society to do so (Julietta Leung N.D.) Frequently, homosexuals, prostitutes, and the homeless are viewed by serial killers because they might believe they are devalued in society or they view as being beneath humanity. They believe those kinds of people are easy targets based on the belief that no one would notice if they went missing.... ...
Although the two genocides are quite different at a first glance, they are interestingly similar upon deeper inspection. For starters, the Holocaust is best known for it’s brutal and inhumane treatment of prisoners, such as tattooing a number on their arm against their will and feeding them food that is not even fit for dogs to consume (“Holocaust”). It may be shocking for some people to hear that in Cambodia, it was just as atrocious, maybe even worse. During the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975 most Cambodians were forced to leave their homes on such short notice that numerous families were killed on cite for not evacuating quickly enough. Those ‘lucky’ enough to escape immediate death were forced to work, unpaid, in labor camps until the fatigue wore down their immune system and they died of some wretched disease (“Genocide”). Another intriguing similarity betw...
Paradigms of Genocide: The Holocaust, The Armenian genocide, and Contemporary Mass Destructions, 156-168. Sage Publications Inc., 1996. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1048550
Various schools of thought exist as to why genocide continues at this deplorable rate and what must be done in order to uphold our promise. There are those who believe it is inaction by the international community which allows for massacres and tragedies to occur - equating apathy or neutrality with complicity to evil. Although other nations may play a part in the solution to genocide, the absolute reliance on others is part of the problem. No one nation or group of nations can be given such a respo...
There have been many serial killer cases that have attracted the attention of not only the media but of mental health experts as well. Many experts from a variety of different fields have come together to answer one question: Why did they do it? It is believed that most, if not all, serial killers have a mental illness, motives, and/or trauma during their lives that made them start killing. Serial killers are not only the effect of nurture but also nature. The environment of their country, the United States is our focus, can cause the number of serial killers to increase especially if the country itself is unstable.