January 7, 2004
Kitty Genovese A post at
Kitty Genovese
A post at Catherine Shu's Newcomer Weblog about a crime she witnessed mentions the story of a woman named Kitty Genovese (do a ctrl+F for "Abstract in the City" and you'll see the post).
As Catherine explains:
"Kitty Genovese was a Queens woman who was killed in 1964. Her murder took half an hour, and there were dozens of passer-by and witnesses who, hypothetically, could have saved her. In social psychology class, I learned that one of the theories that grew from studies of the Genovese case was that the likelihood of a Good Samaritan stepping forward decreased in proportion to the number of bystanders present. In other words, the people who witnessed Genovese getting killed were probably thinking that someone else would do what they were too afraid to do. In addition, the presence of other passive bystanders probably sent out social cues that reinforced their own inactivity."
I forgot all about that story until I read her post. Check out this Newsday story for more background. And let me ask you some questions.
Do you think this could happen today? Do you think it does happen today? Do you think September 11th has changed the way people react towards their fellow New Yorkers in times of crisis? Do you think people changed, but that's no longer true? I'm asking because I'm not sure. Let me know.
categories:
General
posted by at January 7, 2004 12:50 AM
