Factors That Affect Bystander Behavior in Criminal Situations

877 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Bystander effect in social psychology

This essay will give examples and discuss the factors which can affect bystander behaviour in various situations. Models explaining theories will be looked at along with various studies, as well as looking at the three social cognitive processes by Latane and Darley and explain how these were put together to propose a complex cognitive model. The essay will explain the Arousal cost reward model by Piliavin and Piliavin.

After the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964, bystander behaviour was first looked at by Latane and Darley in 1970. Kitty was repeatedly stabbed by a stalker on three separate attacks. During the first two attempts, voices and the sight of lights going on interrupted him and frightened him off but seeing as nobody was coming to her rescue, he went back the third time which consequently led to her death. During the police investigation it emerged that 38 of her neighbours had separately witnessed the attack and yet no-one had intervened or called the police.

It was through kitty Genovese murder and early laboratory studies that led Latane and Darley to introduce the concept of unresponsive bystander and bystander apathy and according to Latane and Darley decision model, a bystander will pass through a logical series of steps before actually offering any help. Therefore a negative decision at any step will lead to non- intervention.

The three social cognitive processes towards the behaviour of bystanders by Latane and Darley that were involved in the passive behaviour of bystanders and these are, Diffusion of responsibility is where there is a tendency that the individual will assume that someone else has taken control of the situation when in fact as a result no one actually does. Audience inhibition is wh...

... middle of paper ...

...ay be seen in terms of those received for helping the victim , for example the amount of physical danger involved or fame and monetary rewards and as the costs for helping increase so does the probability of intervention.

In conclusion this essay has shown that the cost of helping and not helping differ according to the type of help that is required, which could include personality of the bystander, the gender of either, and furthermore the bystander – victim relationship. Helping can be called altruism but only if the motive is to benefit the victim which is empathic concern. All human beings are capable of altruistic acts, and according to universal egoism, helping is always motivated by personal distress. Humans are capable of biological altruism whereby it is triggered within emergency situations, especially where their friends or relatives are concerned.

Show More
Related

  • PSY 301, Introductory Psychology, Fall 2005, Exam 4 A

    4398 Words  | 9 Pages

    The bystander effect refers to the tendency for an observer of an emergency to withhold aid if the:

    Read More

  • Miles Lehrman's Witness to the Holocaust Argues Whether Bystanders Affirm Perpetrators

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... so is sacrificial to one’s rights, it puts them in an undesirable position where they may be harmed as well, and success at being an upstander is not guaranteed. Perpetrators tyrannize those who are unable to stand up for themselves; like how predators seek out the vulnerable preys. Hence, instead of having bystanders to stand up for the victim, the victim should stand up for him/herself. In addition, unlike what Lehrman believes, bystanders are not the most dangerous to the victim; the perpetrator is. Saying that bystanders are the most dangerous is is like saying that if one witnesses something, then he/she is a criminal. Consequently, saying that bystanders should stand up for victims against perpetrators is illogical and naive. Concisely, it is not another’s responsibility to ensure one’s safety and wellness; instead, it is one’s responsibility to do so.

    Read More

  • Bystander Effect: A Study on Group Apathy

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    The bystander effect is a the phenomenon in which the more people are are around the less likely someone will step-in or help in a given situation. THe most prominent example of this is the tragic death of Kitty Genovese. In march of 1964 Kitty genovese was murdered in the alley outside of her apartment. That night numerous people reported hearing the desperate cries for help made by Kitty Genovese who was stabbed to death. Her screams ripped through the night and yet people walked idly by her murder. No one intervened and not even a measly phone call to the police was made.

    Read More

  • We Are All Bystanders Analysis

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” We are All Bystanders by Jason Marsh and Dacher Keltner is an article that reflects on the psychological and social phenomenon that refers to cases in which people do not offer any assistance or help to a victim. Studies say that a person's personality can determine how they react to a bystander situation. In a book called, The Heart of Altruism, author Kristen Monroe writes the altruistic perspective. Altruistic people are strongly connected to other humans and have a concern for the well-being of others. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief exemplifies the bystander theory through Liesel and

    Read More

  • Conformity Theory

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    Latane and Darley (1968) investigated the phenomenon known as the bystander effect and staged an emergency situation where smoke was pumped into the room participants was in. Results showed that 75% of participants who were alone reported the smoke, whereas only 38% of participants working in groups of three reported (Latane & Darley, 1968). Their findings provide evidence for the negative consequence of the diffusion of responsibility. In line with the social influence principle, bystanders depend on reactions of others to perceive a situation as an emergency and are subsequently less likely to help. Latane and Darley’s findings were also supported in recent research: Garcia and colleagues (2002) found that even priming a social context by asking participants to imagine themselves in a group could decrease helping behaviour. It can be contended that these findings are examples of social proof where individuals believe actions of the group is correct for the situation, or examples of pluralistic ignorance where individuals outwardly conform because they incorrectly assumed that a group had accepted the norm (Baumeister & Bushman,

    Read More

  • The Nonexistence of Kindness: George Price

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    People perpetrate seemingly selfless acts almost daily. You see it all over the news; the man who saved that woman from a burning building, the mother who sacrificed herself to protect her children from the bomb blast. But how benevolent are these actions? Are these so-called “heroes” really sacrificing themselves to help others? Until recently, it was the common belief that altruism, or selfless and unconditional kindness, was limited primarily to the human race. However, within the last century, the works of several scientists, most prominently George Price, have provided substantial evidence concluding that altruism is nothing more than a survival technique, one that can be calculated with a simple equation.

    Read More

  • The Kitty Genovese Murder Case

    2234 Words  | 5 Pages

    The bystander effect plays a key role in society today. More and more people ignore a person in distress.

    Read More

  • Altruism: The Illusion of Self-Interest

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper shows that altruism is a very complex issue and much more information could be introduced, following this would allow a greater look at the complexity of other views such as the religious or the philosophical side. Garrett Hardin’s ‘lifeboat ethics’ is a perfect example and proof of this paper, showing that we would rather let others gets killed instead of trying to help a

    Read More

  • Identifying Neighborhood Characteristics in the Cases of the Brutus and Chenequa Communities

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kirst-Ashman, K. (2011). Human behavior in the macro social environment. (3rd ed., pp. 303-355). Belmont, CA: Brookes/Cole.

    Read More

  • Dispositional vs Situational Factors in Prison Behavior

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychological and social factors decided how the subjects acted and instead of the subjects using their own judgement, they behaved how they thought was required for the situation (McLeod, 2016).

    Read More

  • Parenting for the Second Time

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ashford, J., & Lecroy, C. (2013). Human behavior in the social environment. (Fifth ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. (p. 99, 596-597)

    Read More

  • Bystander Effect

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the strengths is providing a new insight into bystander effect. The study argued that researchers have previously neglected the potential benefit of bystanders and thus, the study provided a new horizon by proving reversed bystander effect through experiment. This allows us to be aware of the fact that someone may be providing help merely due to impression management. This arouses a doubt on whether the one who provides help is genuinely concerned about the needs of the victims, or one is just motivated by upholding his/her reputation when surrounded by a crowd. Besides, carrying out a manipulation check right after this experiment is beneficial to this study as well....

    Read More

  • Liability for Omissions in Tort Law

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    Darley, J. M. & Latané, B. (1968) Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 8, 377–383

    Read More

  • The Causes of Altruism

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before a case can be made for the causes of altruism, altruism itself must first be defined. Most leading psychologists agree that the definition of altruism is “a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing another’s welfare.” (Batson, 1981). The only way for a person to be truly altruistic is if their intent is to help the community before themselves. However, the only thing humans can see is the actions themselves, and so, selfish intent may seem the same as altruistic intent. Alas, the only way that altruism can be judged is if the intent is obvious. Through that, we must conclude that only certain intents can be defined as altruistic, and as intent stemming from nature benefits the group while other intent benefits yourself, only actions caused by nature are truly altruistic.

    Read More

  • Cultural Perspectives: Social-Cultural, Neuroscience, And Beha

    316 Words  | 1 Pages

    According to the social-cultural perspective, the individual cut me off in traffic because of his/her understanding of circumstances in traffic and the implication of the behavior of cutting someone off. In this case, the consequences placed on such an individual can act as a motive or demotivate. In this case, the individual recognizes an opportunity to act based on reinforced thought patterns in social situations. The cognitive and psychological influences of behavior exist around an individual in society and continue to influence perceptions that in turn affect behavior choice in a given situation.

    Read More

More about Factors That Affect Bystander Behavior in Criminal Situations

Open Document