The Kitty Genovese case still shocks us to this day even after 50 years of its occurrence. Why is it that he story made the Genovese murder front-page news around the world? Maybe because after the story was published people were shocked at how 38 people saw the crime and did nothing to stop it.
On the night of March, 1964 Kitty Genovese was brutally stabbed to death. There are at least three factors that make Kitty Genovese’s murder unforgettable. First, it was a random act without reason. Second, the brutality of the crime, which consisted of three separate attacks where she endured several stab wounds in a period of half an hour. And finally, the fact that Kitty’s cries for help were heard by 38 people but none of them chose to call the
…show more content…
Second, to scream, or give the perpetrator attention by telling him to leave Kitty alone, as one of the bystanders did. And finally, when your safety is not compromised seek aid for the person in the situation.
The first thing to do in this situation would be to call the police, this way even though you are not directly interfering in the attack you are still giving some help to the victim without exposing yourself to danger. The value of community is present here, if someone is screaming for help on the street even though you might not have all the information about what is going on you might get some sense that something that is not right is happening and go help.
Second, it is important to give the perpetrator some attention. The killer had the chance to attack Kitty two times, before he left her to die. After one of the bystanders screamed at him to leave her alone, he got scared and actually left, and it was not until he saw there was nobody around to stop him that he came back to continue to stab Kitty. It takes some courage and involvement from everyone’s part to take action like this. One person took this action and made the perpetrator stop, even if it was for just a couple of minutes. If more people would have done this, without exposing themselves too much, they could have given Kitty more time to
…show more content…
Arguing that their inaction was immoral to their responsibilities as a community will not offer a rebuttal to the argument that people will not help their fellows. Social proof and pluralistic ignorance give us some sort of reconciliation in the contradiction of Kitty’s case. How a group of people decent people did not give help. They had the moral responsibility to do something, as long as they are doing something to help the person they are fulfilling their responsibility and obligation to do
On June 20, 2001, a terrible tragedy occurred, as Andrea Yates drowned all five of her children in the bath. After drowning each child child, she picked them up, tucked them in her bed and called in her next victim until all 5 children were deceased. After she had successfully drowned each child, she calmly called her husband and notified local police that she was in need of an officer. As this case reached international news, many pondered what would make the mother of five do such an abysmal thing. Once the investigation began, it became acknowledged that Andrea Yates was influenced by several psychological perspectives and was not in her right mind when she committed the heinous crime.
According to the FBI, more than 75 percent of all murder victims are women, and more than 50 percent of the women are between the ages of 14 and 29 years old. A part of that statistic is Kitty Genovese,a murder victim who is the focus of an editorial, “The Dying Girl that No One Helped,” written by Loudon Wainwright. Kitty was a 28 year old woman who was brutally stabbed to death while on her way home from work. The woman, named Kitty Genovese, lived in a pleasant, welcoming, residential area, in New York. There was at least 38 witnesses that came forward, and they all heard her cries for help, but no one came to her aid. Wainwright effectively demonstrates how society has started turning a “blind-eye” toward problems that can endanger someone's
Gail Miller was a 22-year-old nursing assistant living in Saskatoon. She was found in an alley way between 6:45 and 7:30am on January 31st 1969. She had been raped, stabbed twelve times and left for dead. The rape was found to have occurred after she died. The police had little evidence; few clues had been left behind. There had been other attacks in the same area. Authorities tried to suppress the information that linked the Miller rape and murder to the two other assaults.
The Hillside Strangler was the name given to two killers who strangled and killed their victims, dumping their bodies in the hills of Los Angeles. These killings took place during October 1977 and February 1978 involving ten young women ranging from ages 12 to 28. With over one hundred law enforcement task force members working tirelessly to solve this case, the fear with in the community was still undeniable. It wasn’t long before the clues would come in one by one, to help detectives solve this heinous crime. Once two sets of DNA was revele on the crime scenes, police realized they had not just one but two killers. These two killers were cousins Kenneth Alessio Bianchi and Angelo Anthony Buono.
For example, according to Loudon, “For the most part the witnesses, couching in darkened windows like watchers of a late show, looked on until the play was passed their view. Then they went back to bed…” (Wrainright). This insinuates that none of Kitty’s neighbors contacted the police or did anything else to help in the situation until the next morning. If one of the neighbors would have just stood up for Kitty, or even called the police before the murderer returned to finish the job, then she may not have died. In addition, after the incident, one of the witnesses went on to say, “There are people over there who saw everything… And there hasn’t been a peep out of them yet. Not one peep” (Wainright). The reason for this may be that the people are scared to be the first to come and give statements to the police after not having done anything to stop the murder. The witnesses may also be feeling guilty or ashamed after realizing that they had just stood by as their fellow neighbor was killed. It is for this reason that it is so imperative that people not be pressured into conforming, because now all of the witnesses will have to carry the guilt of having not helped for the rest of their lives. Lastly, other witnesses admitted to not wanting to get involved, in the event that they may be taken in as a possible suspect or
Base on this reading the Kitty Genovese case, it is sad how know one report this incident to the police it is said that thirty-eight witnesses, supposedly heard the attack and know what was happening. It is hard to have a side in the Good Samaritan Law, because helping other it has to be to the person not a obligation to do so, because it can be harsh to those who don’t want to help because probably they are afraid for revenge of the criminal. This is why not all the people have the strange to help some one because they are afraid or they had been in a position that something bad happens to them. I don’t agree that they need to be punished someone that don’t report the moment of the incident and someone die. But in my case I would do it I
However, despite being regarded as unnecessary rumors by a section of the American society and government, many media people and houses reported harrowing incidents of murder, rape, carjacking and assaults. There were also media reports about a significant number of urban legends who sprouted at the height of the commotion brought about by Hurricane Katrina – systematic children rapists and a 7-year-old’s throat being slit. However, media reports aside, these contentions remain just that. Nevertheless, although a significant count of th...
The scene was chaotic with the motorcycle laying on its side still running, broken glass covering the pavement around the motorcycle rider and people standing around in shock and panic. I passed my hand sanitizer to a woman who was kneeling beside the motorcycle rider and knelt in the glass that was quickly turning red with blood. The man on the motorcycle had not been wearing a helmet and had significant gaping head trauma. My lifeguard certification kicked in and I went to work doing what I had been taught so many times to do. I knelt down at his head and ensured he was breathing. I began talking to him and trying to keep him awake and as calm as possible. He was softly moaning and gurgling blood from his mouth. He needed to be turned to ensure he did not suffocate on his own blood or further injury himself. With the assistance of a gentleman on the scene I was able to log roll him and stabilize his neck and spine as well as we could on the side of the
At about 3:15 a.m., when she was walking toward the building, she was approached by Winston Moseley. Scared, she began to run across the parking lot. Moseley ran after her, quickly caught up her, and stabbed her twice in the back. She screamed "Oh my God, he stabbed me! Help me!". When one neighbor yelled at the attacker "Leave that girl alone!", Moseley ran away and left Catherine to drag herself slowly toward the entrance of her apartment building where she lay bleeding. Ten minutes later, her attacker decided to return. Cuts on her hands showed she tried to fight back when her attacker started stabbing her again. He stole money from her and left her in the hallway. A few minutes after the final attack, a witness called the police. Genovese was taken away by ambulance at 4:15 a.m. and died on her way to the hospital. Of the 38 witnesses who heard or saw some part of the attack, not one took serious action to help her. Most of them didn’t know it was assault or homicide, they thought what they saw or heard was a lovers’ fight, a drunken fight, or a group of friends leaving the bar when Moseley first approached
If an individual is familiar with their surrounding “they are more likely to help” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print). In the essay, the authors state “the scene of the crime, the streets, in middle class society “represents all the vulgar and perilous in life” (Milgram, Stanley, and Paul Hollander. Paralyzed Witnesses: The Murder They Heard. Print.). In society, the streets, especially at night, represents the dangerous and negative sides of society due to the crimes and chaos that occur on the streets (gangs, drive-by shootings, robberies, murders, large crowds walking, etc.). The crimes and dangers of the streets cause many people to fear being on the streets alone which leads to external conflicts. When the murder was occurring, the witnesses’ attitudes of the streets prevented them from calling the police due to the fear of the streets and since the witnesses were middle-class, they believed that Genovese was poor, a criminal, or someone who has nothing else to do and was expecting for the=is to eventually
The book tells us that the methods used today to give us our information on women who commit homicide towards their spouses or partners. When these types of crimes are reported the details as to why the woman committed homicide are simply left out. What this does is l...
The ideal of an emergency agency with all the proper resources not giving aid to a helpless victim is mind boggling, and their reasons are weak at best. Moreover, I began to wonder are there any underlying issues, why the EMS unit would not respond. We do not know what has transpired in the past, or are there race issues or bad blood between the different boundaries around the city, only a thorough investigation will get to the root cause of the incident. Consequently, there should be no excuses for something as horrific as this incident to ever happen again. The principal concept of autonomy that permit and encourage others to act rationally along with the principal of lawfulness, not to violate the law were not upheld by the EMS workers in my
911. The police and ambulance are there in no time. Once the ambulance come and take her away him
only react to a perp violently and with force if they felt threatened and when this happens local
Anyone who saw the incursion take place, should have at least called the police. If they did not make the effort they contributed to her attacker getting away and to her death. This viewpoint stems from the St. Thomas Aquinas Moral Philosophy. Aquinas believed that every authentic action is either good or bad. Actions are praised when they fulfill the value that we associate with it. Evil is a lack thereof. As her neighbors watched, they understood that they could have done two things: help a fellow neighbor, or allow it to continue. Based off of the Aquinas view, her neighbors either didn’t find it worthwhile to help or they are just immoral. Moral accountability is stopping someone from crossing the street when you see a car coming, catching a falling baby, or giving someone directions to the nearest hospital. Many people confuse their own selfishness with the “I didn’t want to get involved,” excuse. They are using the Slippery-slope Fallacy or the Perfectionist Fallacy. They are thinking well if I get involved, then I have to do. Or me calling the police isn’t going to fix the problem so I might as well do nothing. Let’s say you are in your house and you look out the window and see that