...Description: The behavior under consideration in this paper is the murder and sexual assault of Catherine ‘Kitty’ Genovese. This behavior may be manifested in a number of ways by a variety of individuals for a number of different reasons; such as violent attacks on women. While technically defined as a crime by the state or federal statutes the behavior in question is also regarded as deviant, norm-violating and immoral. It is the purpose of this paper to first describe the murder and sexual assault of Catherine ‘Kitty’ Genovese and then to relate it to two chapters in the textbook entitled ‘It’s a Crime: Woman and Justice” by Roslyn Muraskin. In addition to that I will also examine the fact that thirty-eight witnesses heard or watch the thirty-five minute killing of Ms.Genovese and not one of them assisted or called for help until after she was dead. The murder was committed on the early morning of March 13, 1964 at about 3:15am in the New Gardens section of Queens in New York. Catherine, who was also known as Kitty had just gotten off of work, where she was a manger at a bar. She parked her car in a Long Island Railroad parking lot about 20 feet away from her apartment. As she began to lock her door to her car, she noticed a figure in the dark that was moving quickly toward her. Becoming alarmed she began to walk quickly and then ran as she realized the stranger was following her. She must have thought that since the entrance to her building was so close...
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...“Thirty Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” Jill Murray Professor Askary English Comp 1 Hudson County College Martin Gansberg Martin Gansberg was born on May 6, 1920 in Brooklyn New York. Graduating from Saint John’s University, he went to be a reporter and editor for the New York Times for forty three years. Mr. Gansberg was married to his wife for 48 years. Her name was Agitha Miller Gansberg. They had a son, Alan, and a daughter, Judith Gansberg. He also had a brother, Murray, and a sister, Eudice Stadlen and two granddaughters. Mr. Gansberg also won recognition for a front page article he wrote in 1964 about the murder of a young woman named Catherine Genvese, known by friends and family as Kitty. While neighbors may have ignored her cried for help, the article focused national attention on neighborhoods indifference. By doing so Mr. Gansberg’s article told about something that became symbolical in what many people recognized as the beginning of a culture full of violence and apathy in the United States. This case became so important that social scientists still debate the causes of what is now known as “The Genovese Syndrome”. In the short story “Thirty Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” written by Martin Gansberg published on March 27, 1964, describes a true story that took place in Queens New York on March 14, 1964. The events that took place that night became widely known in American culture to be the cause of what is now...
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...It’s in one's human nature to want to help a fellow person in distress right? According to Loudon Wainright's editorial “The Dying Girl that No One Helped” which tells the story of the murder of Kitty Genovese a young pretty woman who was stalked on her way home. Later she was brutally slaughtered. There had been 38 onlookers to this heinous crime. However, none of them granted assistance to their dying neighbor. Society has become a place where people are so concerned with their own well being that they often disregard those around them who are in need of assistance. Through the use of carefully chosen diction, irony and emotional appeals Wainright proves to readers what a cruel and wicked people society has become. To begin, Wainright uses...
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...individuals refuse to assist in an emergency situation when others are nearby. In the past, the probability of help as been believed to be involving oppositely affected variables comparable to the number of bystanders, for instance, the more bystanders, the least likely anyone will help. John M. Darley was the first social psychologist to make obvious the bystander effect. In this experience, an emergency situation is thespian, and the participants are alone or in a group. The experiment will assess the duration of time for the participants to act or to avoid interfering in the situation. The most popular illustration in introductory psychology textbooks of the bystander effect is the vicious slaying of a female named Catherine "Kitty" Genovese. There exist two factors why groups in bystanders’ effect refuse to take action in a crisis; the...
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...On March 13, 1964, Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, 28, was brutally stabbed to death and raped by Winston Moseley, 29, outside of her apartment in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York (Gansberg; McFadden). The case was brought to the public eye when Martin Gansberg of The New York Times published an article titled Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police. Gansberg’s article suggests that thirty-eight residents of Kew Gardens witnessed Genovese’s murder, but ignored her cries for help instead of calling the police, except for one who called after Kitty was already dead. The bystander effect, the social psychological phenomenon of when people do not help in an emergency situation when others are present, was popularized as a result of the residents’...
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...Microtheme 1: Summary In the 1964 article, “Thirty-eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police,” reporter Martin Gansberg illustrates that murder of Catherine, “Kitty”, Genovese was preventable if any of the thirty-eight witnesses had called the police during the three separate stabbing attacks. In a neighborhood of one-family homes in the $35,000 to $60,000 range, nobody called the police to help the well-known screaming woman in their own neighborhood (2). Winston Moseley, a married, working, and family man, decided on March 14, 1964 to stab Kitty as she was entering her apartment coming home from work. Although she screamed out for help from her neighbors, only one neighbor yelled out to Moseley, who then decided to stab her again. Neighbors responded with only curiosity by turning on their lights and peeking out their windows. At 3:35 A.M., Moseley afraid of the witnesses drove away (2). Kitty struggled to crawl to safety, but Moseley returned to finish his job by stabbing her the last time. Police received their first call at 3:50 A.M. after a neighbor’s long consideration on whether to get involved. Police arrested and charged Moseley with homicide six days after the assault. He also confessed to two other murders. The multiple non-responsive witnesses surprised the police and other citizens who heard the story. Witnesses gave multiple reasons for not taking action such as “We thought it was a lovers’ quarrel” and “I was tired” (2-3). Neighbors did not approach the scene until...
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...John Darley and Bibb Latane was inspired to investigate emergency helping behavior after the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City in 1964. Kitty was attacked, raped and murdered in the public eye. The newspaper report of the murder stated that 38 people had heard and seen the attack, which lasted an hour, yet they are not. Subsequent reports, however, suggest the number of witnesses is much lower and few, perhaps none, witnessed the entire attack. They suggested that there are two factors that can lead to non-aid, social influence and diffusion of responsibility. In this study, he theorized that this person is not susceptible to seizures is very likely to seek help and the more bystanders there are, the more one feels responsible for offering assistance....
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...mostly teenagers and young adults, this non-reaction amongst bystanders cuts across different age groups and gender. Sadly, this is a normal response from bystanders as acts of violence are committed. The passive reaction is borne out of our culture of individualism; a ‘me first’ or “what’s in it for me” mentality. There have been several reasons argued for the lack of bystander involvement in thwarting an act of violence. The reasons put forward include, fear of being hurt in the process, the taboo of snitching, not recognizing the situation as an emergency and invasion of people’s privacy to name a few. If these are some reasons preventing onlookers from helping, how does one explain the case of Kitty Genovese? Kitty Genovese was a woman who killed in New York in 1964. Her murder took all of thirty-five minutes, the attacker actually had the time to leave the scene, come back, and inflict more pain on her. About 38 people heard and saw this happening through their windows, from the comfort of their homes. Despite her screams that she had been stabbed, none of these people tried to help her, either by confronting the attacker or by contacting the police. The most help she got was someone screaming through the window; ‘leave the woman alone’. If the reasons afore mentioned are taken into account in this particular case, then the onlookers could and should have done more based on the fact that; they were not in harm’s way- they were in their homes, the screams and cries clearly...
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...Write a piece on the murder of Kitty Genovese (1964) and the resulting theory of the Bystander Effect. Include experimental evidence and studies in your answer. On Friday, March 13, 1964, 28-year-old kitty Genovese was attacked and stabbed by a man as she returned home from work in the late hours of the night. The attack took place outside her apartment. Despite Genovese’s multiple calls for help not one person who heard her cries from the nearby apartment called the police to report the brutal stabbing. The attack first began at 3:20 AM, but in fact it was not until 3:50 AM that someone contacted police. 38 people in total witnessed the attack and only one person, after 30 minutes called the police to report the crime. After the tragic death...
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...Bystander Apathy Experiment (1968) On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was attacked and stabbed by a man later identified as Winston Moseley. Despite Genovese’s cries for help, none of the people in the nearby apartment building who heard her cries called police to report the incident. The attack first began at 3:20 AM, but it was not until 3:50 AM that someone first contacted police. In 1968, John Darley and Bibb Latane became intrigued by the incident and decided to conduct an experiment which was given the name the Bystander Apathy Experiment. Their main goal was to figure out why people, in cases like Genovese’s, did not come for help. These two psychologists asked volunteers to participate in a discussion which was claimed to be extremely personal. Each individual was separated in different rooms and had to communicate with each other through an intercom. During this “extremely personal” conversation, one of the members would fake an epileptic seizure through the intercom. When the volunteer believed that he/she was the only other person in the discussion, 85% left the room and began to seek help for the individual with a fake seizure. Next, the two psychologists decided to see what would happen if three or four people were in this discussion, instead of just one; and just as they suspected, only 31% went to look for help once the seizure began. So what exactly is the bystander effect? Psychologists predict there are two major factors that contribute to the bystander...
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...“I was tired”, he said without emotions.” “I went back to bed”. These are the words of one of Kitty Genovese neighbors that witnessed Kitty’s murder. When they ask Kitty’s neighbor. Why hadn’t he called the police at the time that was his responses. Thirty Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police was the perfect title for Martin Gangsberg article for the New York Times newspaper. Several years ago, a young woman was stabbed to death in the middle of a street in a residential section of New York City. Thirty-eight neighbors are known to have heard the commotion. Their voices and bedroom lights interrupted the assault twice, yet nobody came to Kitty’s aid. No one even bothered called the police. Some witnesses admitted that they had not wanted to get involved. One said that he was tired. Some simply said, "I don’t know. The bystander effect is when there is an emergency and people don’t help. People don’t help in an crisis situation because they don’t notice that something is going on, they don’t interpret that events as an emergency, and they don’t decide that they have a personal responsibility. People don’t help in a crisis because they don’t notice something is happening. A quote from the article “Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis” shows how some people have a hard time noticing an emergency. “First the bystander has to notice that something is happening .He must tear himself away from his private thoughts and pay attention,”(Darley). This means that some people have their...
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...will discuss prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior is the opposite of anti-social behavior. While anti-social people will exclude themselves from the society, are selfish and don’t contribute much in conversations, prosocial people are philanthropic, obedient and cooperate with others. Prosocial behavior has been described as the phenomenon where people help each other, either willingly or with a hidden motive. Prosocial behavior should not be confused with altruism, which is helping others with the motive of the well-being of the affected person. Altruism is a prosocial behavior but prosocial behavior is not altruism. Prosocial behavior studies began after the murder of a young woman in New York as her neighbors watched. In 1964, a young lady aged 28, was stabbed. She was Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese. Kitty worked in a bar and when she was returning home in...
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...To Help or Ignore Community College In 1964 Kitty Genovese was returning home from work in a middle-class neighborhood in Queens New York. As she approached the front of her apartment building she was attacked by a man with a knife. The man stabbed her several times as Kitty screamed for help. A resident of the apartments witnessed the attack and screamed from his window for the attacker to leave her alone. Initially the man began to walk away but turned around and knocked her down continuing the assault. Kitty continued to scream until someone finally called for help. Police arrived at the scene two minutes later to find Kitty dead and the perpetrator was nowhere to be found. During the investigation the police found that there were 38 people who witnessed the crime, but only one called for the police. One couple said they assumed that the police had already been called and moved their chairs closer to the window to watch. The attack lasted about 35 minutes. If someone would have called the police sooner Kitty may have survived and the perpetrator could have been caught. The Genovese incident created interest in the Psychological world. Two psychologists, John Darley of New York University and Bibb Latané of Columbia, set out to understand the forces that caused the bystanders not to react. They hypothesized that one of the major forces present in this case was the bystander effect which is a tendency for individuals to delay in assisting those who need...
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...Dee Evans SSC1100M 3/25/2014 My thoughts on the Kitty Genovese Murder is emergency hotlines are useful tools when they’re used. 38 people witnessed this murder and no one called 911 destroyed the purpose of its existence. Imagine the lurid face of a women screaming out in pain, but no on coming to rescue. Crying while a man stabs her multiple times without remorse. 38 people watching down on her but taking no action to help. The witnesses may have thought it was a joke. Witnesses may have thought it was a small fight. The police would have obviated the crime of misuse of 911 if it was a joke or small fight. The only person who thought of calling the police might be the best course of action had to consult a friend and ask someone to make the call. Twenty Five minutes went by after she had been stabbed before the police were notified. That’s more than enough time for a person to bleed to death. The stabbers sporadic may have led the witnesses to believe that was a joke, but if they were more meticulous they would have noticed the knife traveling in and out of the victims body. When the victims were asked why they didn’t call 911. They explained how they didn’t want to get involved. I’m sure that Kitty didn’t want to be involved either. No quips or jokes could be made to get out of their embarrassment. I don’t think the members of this domicile will ever use their lax attitude towards crime any street again. We shouldn’t be rash to judge though. They are all people, and I’m...
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...of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress. Research into this tendency stemmed from a murder case from 1964. On March 13th, 1964, 28 year old Kitty Genovese was raped and stabbed to death in front of her apartment complex by Winston Moseley. The attack lasted over 30 minutes and was witnessed by numerous neighbors. At one point Genovese screamed, "Oh my God, he stabbed me! Help me!" One of the neighbors shouted at the attacker, "Let that girl alone!" Moseley ran away and witnesses observed Moseley enter his car and drive away, only to return ten minutes later. He searched for and eventually found Genovese, who was lying in a hallway at the back of the building where a locked doorway had prevented her from entering. He then further attacked Genovese, stabbing her several more times and raping her as she lay dying. Later, some onlookers stated that they thought they were overhearing a "lovers quarrel" whilst others, who realized that they were witnessing a crime but failed to report it, said they assumed someone else already had. When the killer was apprehended, and Chief of Detectives Albert Seedman asked him how he dared to attack a woman in front of so many witnesses, the psychopath calmly replied, "I knew they wouldn't do anything, people never do" (Seedman & Hellman, 1974). In the aftermath of this horrific murder, one question was asked and re-asked:...
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