Who Was Responsible For The Murder Of Kitty Genovese

146 Words1 Pages
After a young lady, Kitty Genovese, was stabbed to death, it was found that there were about 38 witnesses to the stabbing but none of the people had tried to help Genovese in any way. Of the 38 witnesses, no one had even called the police (Darley & Latane, 1968). Researchers were curious as to why in emergency situations, bystanders do not help the person in need. They found that in Genovese’s situation, most witnesses saw that there were many others watching. The responsibility to help, and also the blame of not helping, was spread out amongst the witnesses. The witnesses also could have thought that someone amongst them must have already called authorities for help. These aspects led to the hypothesis that having more bystanders at a scene