How can people just stand there?

[SeaCat]

Okay I just watched a very disturbing video on TV. It was video captured inside a Pizza Shop a while back. In the video a woman cuts in line and another person in line, (who happened to be on his cell phone,) made a comment about this to the person he was talking with. Thw woman overheard this and confrons the other customer. She cusses him out before sticking her head out the door and calling for her boyfriend.

Well the boyfriend comes in and the woman turns on the customer again, poking him in the face. The customer finally has enough and turns on the woman verbally. Her boyfriend then confronts him then beats the living hell out of him. The Boyfriend, an ex-con who weighs over three hundred pounds hits the guy hard enough to lift him off the floor. None of the other people in the shop step in. All of this was caught on video.

Byfriend was sentanced to several more years in jail. Girlfriend got off light, which I do not agree with. She got two years of Probation even though she was the instigator of the whole thing.

Now the part that issed me off. None of the other people in the stre, including the seven males waiting in line or the shop staff even tried to help stop the beating. They stood there and watched it.

How can people just stand by and watch something like this?

Cat

 

[rgraham666]

Because they're afraid, Cat. It's a simple as that. They don't want to be the next one who gets the living shit kicked out of them.

It's a phenomenon I'm quite familiar with. I can't count the times I got beaten up as a kid, with a lot of people standing around watching. In fact, it was more common for people to pitch in and help the bullies.

 

[Emperor_Nero]

Because they're afraid, Cat. It's a simple as that. They don't want to be the next one who gets the living shit kicked out of them.

It's a phenomenon I'm quite familiar with. I can't count the times I got beaten up as a kid, with a lot of people standing around watching. In fact, it was more common for people to pitch in and help the bullies.

To a certain extent, fear plays a part. But I think there is also the spectacle of it all. The same reason people slow down to look at car crashes or crowds gather to watch firefighters dowsing the flames. They just can't believe things like this happen where they live instead of on the television to other people far away.

 

[maggot420]

bystander apathy

 

[goodguy2nondfuk]

Mr G is right on! People fear all manner of things in a siutation like that and it freezes them. "To damn bad for that sucker!" must roll around in their conscious or subconscious. Very rarely to people act on what should be done in these instances. We must ask ourselves what are we willing to tolerate. Oh and don't forget the police. Surely they will help us, right? They will! If they are right there when it happens.

 

[SeaCat]

There was a case several years back that still sticks in my mind. A woman was beaten to death on the doorstep to her building in New York City. Many of the people in the building reported hearing her screams when questioned by the police, yet only one of them bothered to call the Police.

The most common reason why they didn't d anything? They didn't want to get involved.

Okay so maybe I'm old fashioned but I find this attitude disgusting and morally reprehensible.

Has our soceity descended/degenerated so far that we are willing to stand by and watch someone injured without responding? What happened to the idea of looking out for our fellow man?

People argue for the freedom to own guns and they say they wish ths so they can protect themselves and their neighbors. Where are these people when the shit hits the fan?

Cat

 

[Boxlicker101]

There was a case several years back that still sticks in my mind. A woman was beaten to death on the doorstep to her building in New York City. Many of the people in the building reported hearing her screams when questioned by the police, yet only one of them bothered to call the Police.

The most common reason why they didn't d anything? They didn't want to get involved.

Okay so maybe I'm old fashioned but I find this attitude disgusting and morally reprehensible.

Has our soceity descended/degenerated so far that we are willing to stand by and watch someone injured without responding? What happened to the idea of looking out for our fellow man?

People argue for the freedom to own guns and they say they wish ths so they can protect themselves and their neighbors. Where are these people when the shit hits the fan?

Cat

Actually, if this guy who got beat up had been packing, he could have wasted the other guy, and saved the taxpayers from supporting him for the next two years. Since was being assaulted,

You remember the notorious flying, or non-flying imams? Well, the people who complained about their scary activities are now being sued, at least the imams, or their slimy mouthpieces are trying to sue them. Hopefully, the suit against the passengers, at least, will be thrown out of court. I hope the imams do sue, and get their collective asses kicked, so the airline can coun ter-sue them and their slimy mouthpieces for bringing a frivolous lawsuit.

As for this particular case, if somebody had helped the victim, he probably would have gotten hurt, and if he and the victim had prevailed, he probably would have been sued or arrested, or both. Unfortunately, that's the way the law works sometimes.

 

[elsol]

We've stood by while genocide was attempted.

Why wouldn't we stand by while some guy gets the shit kicked out of him?

 

[SeaCat]

Actually, if this guy who got beat up had been packing, he could have wasted the other guy, and saved the taxpayers from supporting him for the next two years. Since was being assaulted,

You remember the notorious flying, or non-flying imams? Well, the people who complained about their scary activities are now being sued, at least the imams, or their slimy mouthpieces are trying to sue them. Hopefully, the suit against the passengers, at least, will be thrown out of court. I hope the imams do sue, and get their collective asses kicked, so the airline can coun ter-sue them and their slimy mouthpieces for bringing a frivolous lawsuit.

As for this particular case, if somebody had helped the victim, he probably would have gotten hurt, and if he and the victim had prevailed, he probably would have been sued or arrested, or both. Unfortunately, that's the way the law works sometimes.

After watching the video, if the victim had been armed he still would have had his ass kicked, and the felon most likely would have then had a nice shiny firearm. The attack happened so fast and out of the blue the guy had absolutely no chance to defend himself.

As for the lawsuit, it is more than likely and that is worthy of yet another thread. (In fact I think we have had a thread about the ease of lawsuits and the lack of controll over them here in the United States.

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

We've stood by while genocide was attempted.

Why wouldn't we stand by while some guy gets the shit kicked out of him?

Why indeed? That is the question I am asking.

As I said, maybe I'm old fashioned but I can't understand this mindset. Then again that is why I have th scars I do. I am more than willing to step into a situation like this.

Cat

 

[Liar]

As I said, maybe I'm old fashioned but I can't understand this mindset. Then again that is why I have th scars I do. I am more than willing to step into a situation like this

It's not a mindset, it's not a lesser moral, ity's not how they were brought up. Iit's a mechanic in people's brains that block out the severity of serious situations, because they're not used to them.

I'm not. Everytime it happens I find myself looking at everyone else thinking "Someone ought to do something". And noone does. Then all of a sudden, I found myself having stepped in whithout really knowing how it happened. My brain and my spine seems to have different ideas about things.

I never fight though. Can't do that more than a reformed alcoholic can drink. And I suck at it anyway. I just stand in the way looking big. I've gotten pretty good at that, and usually it works. It's just that when it doesn't, I'm the wrong person to be there, and have paid for it. Which is why my brain is so persistent in trying to stop me.

 

[Chantilyvamp]

Why indeed? That is the question I am asking.

As I said, maybe I'm old fashioned but I can't understand this mindset. Then again that is why I have th scars I do. I am more than willing to step into a situation like this.

Cat

I'm with you cat and have stepped in many times to help stop things like this. When I was at university in the states I was a resident assistant for a few years. On my second year I was in charge of 60 girls in the upperclass hall. One of their bf's got in a snit and brought a gun and was waving it at his gf in the hall outside my door. He kept saying he'd just shoot her and that would solve everything. I called security opened the door got between them and let loose on him. I don't know if it was surprise over the little bitty girl standing a foot and a half below him yelling at him or what. But he did as I said and handed me the gun and went down stairs where security had him at the door.

On another occasion we had a footballer hitting his gf and I drug him off and threw him out of the building.

Both times I was severly told off for putting myself in danger. The upper staff an co-workers said I should have stood by out of the way after calling security. All I could think was wtf? Ok maybe the gun one was stupid and I might be little but they were my girls and I would be damned if anyone came in and tried to hurt them on my watch. Again like I said might have been stupid but thats the way I felt and probably why I had the largest floor with the most girls requesting to be on it.

 

[scheherazade_79]

They've brought out new guidelines in the UK, where if you see someone being attacked in the street, you're supposed to wave your arms around and make as much noise as you can as a distraction.

So technically, if you see an old lady being attacked in the street while you're driving along, what you should do is stay in your car and sound the horn until the police arrive

Reluctance to intervene also has a lot to do with the fact that people are terrified of ending up in court on assault charges.

Nobody is willing or able to think and act for themselves these days. Instead we live in such fear of having lawsuits filed against us that we'd sooner do nothing than do the right thing.

Very sad, but this is what happens when governments over-legislate.

 

[Fallenfromgrace]

What you describe as someone said above is Bystander apathy, where people will stand by and let something bad happen without intervening.

There are a lot of reasons for this -
the fear of getting hurt yourself,
the 'its not my business' excuse,
yes the spectacle too.
not feeling adequate or equipped to step in- (for example, you see someone blacking out and falling , you may not go and rush to their aid coz you feel that you dont know what to do as you arent medically trained. That's a mundane example but the point is there.)

The biggest thing is that the more witnesses there are the less likely any intervention will occur because everyone thinks 'oh someone else will get involved'.

There's been a hellova lot of research into bystander behavior, in fact ive done some myself for my degree- nothing as dangerous as violence though. If anyone is interested i can give a brief runthrough of what the research entailed.

There was a case several years back that still sticks in my mind. A woman was beaten to death on the doorstep to her building in New York City. Many of the people in the building reported hearing her screams when questioned by the police, yet only one of them bothered to call the Police.

The most common reason why they didn't d anything? They didn't want to get involved.

Cat, this is the story of Kitty Genovese who was beaten and stabed to death yards from her front doorstep in 1964. Its a very famous after the fact study into bystander behavior by Latane and Darley in 1968. I beleive that the excuses yesed were 'its a domestic, none of my business', 'i thought someone else was going to call the police'.

Its been a huge influece in psychological research to this date and will remain one of the biggest studies into such a phenomenon.

Read more about the Kitty Genovese attack and subsequent researc here

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I'm 6'-4", 230 pounds, and know martial arts. If I'm not directly involved, I would be scared as hell to face off with someone who weighs 40% more than I do. not without a weapon of some kind (in that situation a maglight would do nicely).

there's also the possibility of the perpetraiter having a wepaon. I wouldn't be surprised to see the man or waman pull a knife or worse out and just start hacking. It's happened before.

and normally, I won't hit a woman unless she is trying to kill me, and pulling a knife works for me to throw a puch or kick her leg until it breaks. No problems there at all for me.

 

[cloudy]

I've stepped in before, and will continue to do so.

I don't get it, Cat, but human nature is strange.

 

[oggbashan]

I've stepped in when a woman was being beaten in the street. She and her attacker turned on me. When the police arrived they claimed "He (Og) started it." Fortunately for me, someone else, who had called the police, had witnessed it from a distance and gave the true account. It helped that I am known to the police as a community activist and the man and woman had police records. Without that witness, I could have been charged and convicted of assault.

Now, I would be very wary of physically intervening because of my disabilities. I would call the police and then try to stop the violence verbally, but only if I had a safe line of retreat. I have stopped violence several times by shouting at the attacker. I have a loud voice and the shock of being challenged can be enough to make the attacker aware that there is a witness. It is a dangerous tactic.

I can understand the reluctance of a group of strangers. It is easy to think "Why doesn't someone..." and leave it to everyone else. Taking the initiative can make you the target.

Og

 

[Jubal_Harshaw]

A friend of mine calls it "Sheep Syndrome". As long as it's not happening to you there is no cause for alarm, continue grazing and be glad the wolf picked a different victim. If it is you, scream (bleat) for help as if the other sheep are willing to take on the wolf for you.

These kinds of people will be victims themselves because they don't have the intestinal fortitude to try and fight back. Mother nature likes to eliminate these types as their genes are not worth passing on. Nature intended that only the strong survive. Now the weak survive as well because the strong caudle them and in return the weak rebuke them as monsters.

As Bugs Bunny would say, "Humans is the cRaZiEsT pEoPlEs."

 

[SeaCat]

I think a lot of the comments mentioned above have it right. In a large group of people most if not all of them will wait to see if someone else is going to step forward. Sometimes these people can be induced to do something by a leader stepping forward.

One of the neatest situations I have ever heard about was written up several years ago.

It started out with a group of young guys out in a smallish city. They were bar hopping and generaly having a good time when they saw two men beating the living shit out of a woman. They hesitated for roughly a second before they took off in full charge. They hit the two guys in a human wave, sweeping them away from the woman and holding them until the local Police showed up. (Commiting personal indignities as they held them I'm sure.)

It didn't surprise me that these ten guys reacted in the manner they did.

The two guys were wel known to the local Police for many reasons. Not least was their running of strings of Prostitutes and their treatment of their "women".

The ten guys? All were members of the United States Army. In fact they were all members of the same squad and were on leave when the incident happened. The two pimps used to the actions of people who have the Sheep Mentalty just weren't prepared for ten guys who worked together and were willing to step in.

Yes I do realize this was an aberation, but it did give me a smile when I read about it.

Cat

 

[Boxlicker101]

I would think that, generally speaking, men would come to the aid of a woman much faster than to a man, and to a child even faster. The human race is just wired that way.

 

[cantdog]

That would be nice.