the Informer

Over a two-hour period on Saturday evening in late October 2009 a 15-year-old California girl was allegedly gang raped and beaten right outside of her high-school homecoming dance.

While hundreds of students we’re gathered in the gymnasium, many were convened in front of the alley where the rape was occurring stopping to have a quick laugh and snap a few photos.

Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department told CNN.com, “As people announced over time that this was going on, more and more people came to see, and some actually participated.”

Gagan also stated that the witnesses of this horrendous crime failed to report what they saw to the local law enforcement. Five arrests were made, with others impending, but the question still remains, why didn’t anyone come forward to help?

Many psychologists believe that this type of occurrence is due to the social psychological phenomenon known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect refers to the idea that when there are a greater number of people present it’s less likely for someone to help a person in distress.

There are a few thoughts as to why people react this way in situations where their help could mean all the difference to another human’s life. First, is the idea that when there are more people in a group there is a diffusion of responsibility, meaning nobody wants to be the one to pick up the phone and dial 911.

The second is the idea that when people are in groups there’s a need to act as part of the norm, so in essence being the hero would seem completely ridiculous to the other members of the group.

The term bystander effect was coined in the ‘60s after neighbors of 20-year-old Kitty Genovese watched and heard a serial killer stalk and stab her to death in two separate instances in her neighborhood of Queens, New York.

Genovese allegedly struggled with her attacker on the street and in her building all the while screaming for help yet nobody came to her aid. According to The New York Times, one neighbor who was questioned by police as to why he failed to act said, “I didn’t want to be involved.”

This infamous case became the primary example of the bystander effect. These types of instances occur more often then we’d like to believe in today’s society. It’s not just enough to say that you would be willing to come to the aid of another human being in need of help, we should be constantly ready to protect with as little as a phone call to the police.

Sounds simple but many don’t react as they should, instead they turn away, fearing that by getting themselves involved they are somehow going to be the next victim yet to stand by and do nothing is corrupting our societies moral integrity.

In the case of the young California girl, many witnesses later stated that they were afraid of gang retaliation but just a single 911 call could have saved this young girl from the psychological damage that comes from a brutal attack like this.

So I leave you with this question, would you be the hero or just another bystander?