Bystander effect

 

A 19-year-old girl harassed by   youths was kicked out of a moving train by them near Maddur on Tuesday afternoon. She survived miraculously, but suffered grievous injuries.,later  she  reportedly told ;no  one came to  my  aid

Earlier  a teenager in  Gawahati was molested by a  mob on  a busy  road before  she  was  rescued  by cops she too said  nobody came  to  my  rescue 

We  can  go  on and  on regarding  such  incidences  which keep  on occurring time and again and  in  most  of  the  cases public plays  the  role  of  mute spectator.

  During  all  these  happenings   one word  which  kept  on tossing during  discussion everywhere is    BYSTANDER EFFECT   or  Genova  syndrome

 Lot  of  questions came to  my  mind  like  why  people react or not  react proactively during  these  kind  of situation ? is  this syndrome  confined  to  India?or  is  it a recent  development ?or is  it universal?..Surprisingly this  bystander effect is universal and as  old  as  civilization  and not  confined to particular Race or  country  !!This has happened earlier, happening  now and continue to  happen  in future  as  well.

Think  about a  situation in  Mahabharata where when Draupathi  was about to be molested  by Dushashana   everyone   including  Bhisma  pithamaha  was a  mute  spectator or  a  bystander till  Lord Krishana rescued .Well, we  may  give hundreds  of  Explanation to  justify the  act but  this  is  fact .. Ok  let  us  leave  this  for  pundits  to  discuss  and let  me  share with  you regarding Bystander effect and what can  be  done when  we are  into  this kind of  situation 

..Before this let  us  know  what  is this Bystander effect .

The bystander effect or Genovese syndrome is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases where individuals do not offer any means of help in an emergency situation to the victim when other people are present. The  word Genovese  came into  existence  when  Catherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese  a New York City woman was stabbed to death near her home in the Kew neighbourhood of the borough of Queens in New York City, on March 13, 1964 and lack of reaction from  her  Neighbors .To determine the underlying reasons why these witnesses failed to help,  two psychologists conducted a series of lab experiments to examine how the presence of others influences people's helping  behavior in an emergency situation. The results of these studies suggest there are two clear reasons why the eyewitnesses fail  to help .that  is  Pluralistic Ignorance and . Diffusion of responsibility

Let  me  try to  explain these  two findings for  our  understanding 

 1.Pluralistic Ignorance

Pluralistic ignorance describes a situation where a majority of group members privately believe one thing, but assume (incorrectly) that most others believe the opposite.

 Coming  out with  a  Example , pluralistic ignorance explains why  students often fail to ask questions in class. When they  fail  to  understand  some  subject .Before raising  hand, he will likely look around to see if any of his fellow students seem confused or have their hand up as well. If no one else looks puzzled, he will conclude that he is the only one in the room that didn't understand, To avoid looking stupid he may choose to keep his hand down and not ask further  question. But we  know that if one student is unsure about the subject, odds are most of the students are. So in this situation  the  students  as  a  whole are suffering from pluralistic ignorance because each one assumes they are the only one confused, when in fact all the students are confused and all of them are incorrectly concluding that they are the only one. The same process can occur when we witness an ambiguous emergency situation. All the bystanders may look to each other to determine if they are witnessing a crime, and if no one reacts, then everyone will wrongly conclude that this is not an emergency and no one will step up and help. The fact that several of the eyewitnesses in Gawhati case  were laughing and taking photos with their cell phones suggests that they simply failed to realize they were witnessing a barbaric  act  and instead may have thought it was a prank.

So we now that one reason why people fail to help is because they don't realize they are witnessing a crime, but how can we use this information to our advantage? First, if you find yourself in an ambiguous situation, resist the urge to look to others and go with your gut instinct. If you think there is even a possibility that someone is in need, act on it. At worst, you will embarrass yourself for a few minutes, but at best, you will save a life. Second, if you are unfortunate enough to find yourself the victim and are in need of help, make sure you make it clear to those around you that this is an emergency situation. Shout ,yell, but  do not keep quite

2. Diffusion of Responsibility
 
Even if people recognize that they are witnessing a crime, they may still fail to intervene if they do not take personal responsibility for helping the victim. The problem is that the more bystanders there are, the less responsible each individual feels. When you are the only eyewitness present, 100% of the responsibility for providing help rests on your shoulders. But if there are five eyewitnesses, only 20% of the responsibility is yours. I  think  you  understood  logic!  The responsibility becomes defused or dispersed among the group members. In these situations, people may assume that someone else will help or that someone else is better qualified to provide assistance.

So once again, how can we use the knowledge garnered from this study to our advantage? First, if you find yourself in an emergency situation with several fellow bystanders, realize that your first instinct (and the first instinct of those around you) will be to deny responsibility for helping the victim. By simply being aware of the diffusion of responsibility process, it may snap you out of the biased way of thinking and cause you to realize that you and everyone present is each 100% responsible for helping the victim. Second, if you find yourself in need of help, it is up to you to actively make one of your eyewitnesses feel personally responsible for your well-being. When we are in need of help and there is a crowd watching, we often plead for help to anyone that is listening, thinking that at least one person will step up to intervene. Focus on one  individual, you suddenly make that person feel completely responsible for your safety and this increases the odds that they will help. The same technique can be used if you are trying to get several others to help you assist a victim. Point to one person and tell them to go get help; point to another and tell them to call emergency number. Giving specific instructions to specific people counteracts the diffusion of responsibility process To  be  proactive is  advisable

But question  is why generally   people do not help and  prefer to  be  a  bystander?

 “People are scared,”, says a senior official at New Delhi-based All India Democratic Women’s Association. “Scared of the threat to their lives, scared of indulging in a court room drama, even scared the accused could possibility manipulate the police.”
So if you are witnessing something wrong on the street, its the thought "I should go in and stop them" that goes in your mind, but "What will happen to me and my family, if I intervene?". This is the thing which makes people more of a bystander than anything else.

Do  not have  this  ambiguity in  your  mind ,Help people in  need…  think  for  a  while

…. do we  remain as a  bystander if the  victim who  needs your  help is your best friend ,close  relative ,brother ,sister  daughter  or for  that  matter if the  Victim is YOU

 don’t  you wish  some   one  from the  crowd rushes to  help  you ? 

I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to fellow being in distress, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.  ~author  unknown