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The Bystander Effect And The Murder Of Kitty Genovese

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Several neighbors witnessed or heard the extended attack that killed Kitty Genovese in
1964 in Queens, New York, but few intervened to save her life. Kitty Genovese, a 28- year-old woman, was killed in New York City early on March 13, 1964. 38 witnesses reportedly stood by and did nothing as she died. Her passing gave rise to the bystander effect, one of the most talked-about psychological ideas ever. It claims that when a crime is witnessed by a crowd, there is a diffusion of responsibility. They are less likely to be of assistance than a lone witness. The episode triggered research into what became known as the bystander effect, or "Genovese syndrome", and the murder became a staple of U.S. psychology textbooks for the next four decades. Researchers have now …show more content…

On March 13, 1964, about 2:30 a.m., Genovese left the pub where she worked and started heading home in her red Fiat. Winston Moseley, sitting in his parked Chevrolet
Corvair, noticed her as she waited for the light to change on Hoover Avenue. Around
3:15 a.m., Genovese arrived at her residence and left her car in the Kew Gardens Long
Island Rail Road station parking lot, just 100 feet (30 m) from the entrance of her apartment. Moseley, who had followed her home, got out of his car, which he had parked at a corner bus stop on Austin Street, as she made her way toward the apartment building. He went over to Genovese with a hunting knife. Moseley pursued
Genovese as she raced toward the building's entrance, caught up with her, and stabbed her twice in the back. Genovese cried out, "I was stabbed, my God! Aid me!" Several of the neighbors heard her scream, but only a few of them understood that she was calling for aid. Moseley fled after a neighbor yelled at the assailant, "Leave that girl alone!"
Genovese moved carefully in the opposite direction, away from any witnesses and critically hurt, toward the building's back

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