Social Vigilante

Kitty Genovese: A Nation of Bystanders?

Perhaps nothing begs for the examination of the Social Vigilante concept as much as the murder of Kitty Genovese on the evening of March 13, 1964 in Kew Gardens, Queens. The brutal attack lasted more than 30 minutes and the police confirmed that 38 people were witness to this horrific event from their apartment windows yet not one of them responded to the victim's screams and pleas for help by intervening or simply calling the police.

Thirty years after the Kitty Genovese incident, Caroline Eisenberg, a 23 year old student, died after bleeding for six hours on her rooftop at 106th Street and West End Avenue. Police investigators compared the murder to the Genovese killing. Two social psychologists, Bibb Latane of Columbia University and John Darley of NYU, attempted to develop a theory as to why no one helped Kitty Genovese. They came up with The Bystander Effect: the individual is less likely to provide help in the presence of other bystanders.

An I-Me-Mine Credo, Greed, Indifference to Cruelty in our world fuels the 'Ugly American' image around the globe.

Is the U.S.--"the leader of the Free World"--becoming a nation of bystanders?