Bystander Effect Essay

Submitted By alisonbonham
Words: 677
Pages: 3

Bystander Effect

I found this very interesting and there are many studies today related to this. Also you will find many TV shows based on this. Basically it is a “what would you do” sort of question. This study seems so interesting to me because every individual would be a different result. If you ask an average person a “what would you do” sort of question the natural instinct would be for them to say that they would do the right thing and take action. What the person might say and do will sometimes completely change when put in the situation not knowing it is staged. It is a natural reaction of someone to feel something when they see the “not my father” clip. With this clip you can get many different reactions from bystanders who pass the young girl yelling for someone to help and that the man that has her is not her father. Many people say that they might have thought that it was just a misbehaving child and none of their business. Then you have the middle man who stands by but may make a phone call to the police but not physically get involved in the situation. The third type of person is the one who will stop and help the little girl. Having all three of these different reactions does not make me think any different of society but that is how we are when it comes to not getting involved with other people’s business or not needing to add any more responsibility to their plate or thinking that someone else will stop and help due to lack of time personally. We are a busy society and have our own situations and life problems going on that we have become selfish, but not in a bad way. I personally was put in a situation last October when I was in New Orleans. A woman was passed out from intoxication and a man was taking advantage of her in the restroom and that man was not her husband. Later while leaving the couple was fighting outside and he had her pinned up against the wall yelling and she was overly intoxicated she could barely stand. There was a cop driving by and was stopped at a light and I walked up to his vehicle and gave him a quick summary of what was transpiring. He immediately came to her aid. I am not sure why I did that but I did and I felt a sense of relief. If I would have left and not said