The case of Kitty Genovese: Bystander effect and creation of 911

-

 






“Call 911!” is a phrase we’ve frequently heard in Hollywood movies. It is the designated ‘Universal Emergency Number' for citizens throughout the United States used to request emergency assistance. But how did it’s use/existence come about? 

Catherine Susan Genovese AKA Kitty Genovese was murdered during the early hours of 13th March, 1864. This ruthless rape and murder was one of the factors that pushed this system into place. 

born in New York, on 7th July 1935, to Italian-American parents. Their eldest of five children, she was raised in a four-family row house in Park Slope, neighbourhood for housing Italians and Irish. She was very popular in school. At 28 years, she drove up to her garage around 3 A.M., and noticed that a man was following her. Winston Moseley, a serial killer, approached her and caught up with a running, screaming Genovese, stabbing her twice with a hunting knife. Upon some shouts from neighbours, he rushed away and Kitty managed to take herself to her apartment door, where he stole 49 dollars, stabbed her several more times, raped her, and then left. A neighbour who found her there, held her in her arms until the ambulance arrived, but sadly, she passed away on the way to the hospital. Moseley was, however, not caught by the police until six days after the attack. He admitted to the crime, and did not retaliate against the arrest, but rather, also admitted to several past crimes including rapes and over 30 burglaries.  He was thus sentenced to life imprisonment. 

The murder became famous not because, well the murder, but in fact the reaction it received from the bystanders. Many neighbours explained that they simply thought it was some brawl, exaggerated by the influence of alcohol on one of the individual’s part, or a lover’s spat, always followed by “I didn’t wanna get involved!”. This was officially known as the story of ‘urban apathy’, and was considered a symbol of the cold anonymity of life in the city. 

John Darley and Bibb Latane, took inspiration from this story, and conducted a series of experiments on ‘the bystander effect’ where they would place them in a staged emergency situation. It was found that people were more likely to step in and intervene if they were alone, as opposed to when they were in a crowd. People have a tendency to think ‘someone will help’, to justify not helping the person under distress. 

Now at that point of time, there were no 911 services which is why people had to call the local police stations. There was no proper way of calling up the police, and no way of surely knowing if the police got the information and whether they would be coming or not. Another neighbour mentioned, as he called the police a third time, - “He swears his father did call the police, was put on hold, told the police - there's a woman staggering around out there! You need to come! There was no answer to that call,” Cook said. “In those days, there was no 911 system. That's something that came out of the Kitty Genovese case, at least indirectly.” These happenings and Kitty’s murder was a pivotal role in the formation of 911. It also inspired the creation of the neighbourhood watch program and other reforms including crime-victim compensation, sex offender registries and laws that allow victims’ families to speak during the penalty phase in felony trials, according to Cook.

Moseley died on March ‘16 at 81 years, as one of the longest serving inmates. 


About the Author


Prisha Gohil

Head of Department

PsyCreative Column

Psychology Committee, SDSOS, NMIMS


Born and raised in Rajkot, Gujarat, is an 18-year-old, full of youth and quirky enthusiasm, something clearly visible in her writing. She is currently studying psychology at SDSOS, Mumbai. Her biggest strengths are her family and friends, who have always been an inspiration to her. She is full of energy when she is awake, which she rarely is. Her dream is to sleep but does some productive work in between here and there while reaching her final goal. Communication is one of the best skills she possesses, that she has nurtured over time. Confident, charismatic, hard-working, and passionate are words that would appropriately describe her.


References

https://allthatsinteresting.com/kitty-genovese

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z59sJbg_if0&t=22s

https://study.com/learn/lesson/defining-the-bystander-effect-kitty-genovese-murder-research-by-latane-and-darley.html

https://ahp.apps01.yorku.ca/tag/kitty-genovese/#:~:text=In%201964%20Genovese%20was%20murdered,situations%20when%20others%20are%20present.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Diasporic Disconnect Amidst Urban Setting in Students

-
Image
 The Diasporic Disconnect Amidst Urban Setting in Students  - By Drishti Haldia (MSc. Applied Psychology, Sem II) Automat by Edward Hopper (1927): The painting depicts isolation and urban loneliness.  “ Imagine standing by a window at night, on the sixth or seventeenth or forty-third floor of a building. The city reveals itself as a set of cells, a hundred thousand windows, some darkened and some flooded with green or white or golden light. Inside, strangers swim to and fro, attending to the business of their private hours. You can see them, but you can‘t reach them, and so this commonplace urban phenomenon, available in any city of the world on any night, conveys to even the most social a tremor of loneliness, its uneasy combination of separation and exposure .” -Olivia Lang What is Diaspora?  Diaspora refers to a population or group of people who originated from a specific geographic location but currently reside in different regions or countries. It is very relevant to the stude
Read more

Mental Illness : A Creative Inspiration?

-
Image
  “ The Scream” by Edvard Munch portrays the panic of being frightened and full of anxiety, and many people with mental illness will recognize the feelings of isolation, loneliness and despair in the face of the woman. "One must have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche Does suffering and emotional instability fuel artistic inspiration? Creativity is often defined as the ability to generate unique and valuable ideas or solutions. Mental illness, on the other hand, refers to a wide range of conditions that affect a person's thinking, mood, and behavior. The connection between creativity and mental illness has been a topic of interest among researchers and scholars. While creativity is often associated with traits such as innovation and originality, there is also evidence suggesting a link between certain mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and heightened creative abilities. It is important to
Read more

Virtual Reality Therapy: The Future of Mental Health Treatment

-
Image
“Virtual Reality in Therapy” sounds like a bizarre match, doesn’t it? Well as astonishing and new as it sounds, it is surprisingly equally effective in mental health aid. Virtual reality (VR) allows you to experience a life-like existence in a computer-generated environment. The digital environment setting is expressed through a head-mounted display. By setting up a realistic VR environment through this headset, clinicians help patients experience situations that will further help in the diagnosis and treatment of the respective disorder. Virtual Reality Therapy for Treatment of PTSD and Phobia: Let’s begin this topic with a statement of pure experience given by one of the clinical psychologists testing VR effects in therapy: “One thing I have learnt from VR, is that it is straightforward to fool the brain." Is it, really? Well, the use of VR in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) justifies this statement, as it has had a great impact on treatment and the pos
Read more