Reaction Paper to Newspaper Articles

Reaction Paper to Newspaper Articles

Article 1: Why good people stand by and let bad things happen by Erin Anderssen

There are a number of theories as to what variables have an impact on bystander intervention (or non-intervention), comprising of self-perception, social-cognitive, and social identity, and evolutionary and biological perspectives (Nida, 1981). From these theories, a number of studies have analyzed the factors that predict bystander intervention and the effect of bystander intervention on behaviors, ranging from sexual assault to bullying in schools. Other research has examined bystander intervention in the context of criminal, harmful, and emergency behaviors as a mechanism of unofficial social control, the strength of which is negatively correlated with the level of violence and crime. Many research studies have shown that bystander intervention can be an effective crime prevention strategy, both directly by intervening when a crime or harmful act is under way and indirectly by notifying an authority as witnessed in Why good people stand by and let bad things happen by Erin Anderssen.

Social psychologists John Darley and Bibb Lantané produced the seminal work on bystander intervention, which they started by examining police reports of the murder of Kitty Genovese. They suggested that it was the large number of witnesses that caused the nonintervention, rather than apathy or indifference (Schroeder & Penner, 2006). Their studies showed that a person alone is likely to intervene; in contrast, when other bystanders are present, individual bystanders are less likely to intervene. Based on the five-stage decision-making model, they argued that the presence of bystanders lessens responsibility by diffusing it; this is known as the bystander effect. When this psychological shift occurs, a state of pluralistic ignorance arises as individuals look to others for social cues of appropriate action. It has been suggested that when others are present ...