By: Aurora Dziadul/Staffwriter
In the midst of several student-related apartment break ins, continue reading to learn how you can protect yourself. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
You’re walking down the streets surrounding your apartment, making your way back from work after a busy day. You feel the familiar thudding of your heart and quickening of your step as the darkness settles around you. The sidewalk is deserted, and you feel anxious to reach your apartment complex where the lights from your neighbors’ windows illuminate the trees and you might see a familiar face to wave to.
Finally, you see that reassuring blaze of light up ahead. You can hear the chatter of conversations and the static from radios spilling out from the open windows in the complex. You begin to relax, confident in your safety once again. Your stride slows, and you stop underneath a streetlight to take in a breath of fresh air before heading towards your apartment.
The attack comes before you even realize what is going on. A man tackles you from behind, pushing you to the ground and reaching around for a knife. You scream, struggling to your feet as you attempt to get away from him. The chase takes you through your apartment complex and into the building, lasting a torturous forty-five minutes before the man grabs you from behind and finishes what he had started. Your screams can be heard echoing through the building as you question to yourself “Why did no one help me?”
This is exactly what happened to a young woman named Kitty Genovese in March of 1964. Thirty-eight of her neighbors stood by and watched as Kitty struggled for her life over the span of almost an hour. Yet no one so much as picked up the phone to call for help, preferring to simply watch the drama unfold below them.
Her murder managed to rock the nation—not so much for its grisly nature but for the sheer number of people who did nothing to stop it. The New York City Police and newspapers around the country bemoaned the so-called destruction of humanity that was occurring in city-dwellers. Psychologists Latane and Darley had a much different explanation, though, and Kitty’s death ended up serving as the catalyst for a new psychological phenomenon: bystander apathy.
Bystander apathy is loosely defined as the failure of individuals to help those in need when in the presence of other people. Unfortunately, the old adage of safety in numbers is not as true as we would like to believe. When you’re with a large group of people, you automatically assume that someone else will take care of the situation. With all of those people present, there’s no reason for you to get involved.
We also have to look at the ambiguity of the situation. After all, how likely are you to help someone laying on the ground, or pulled over on the side of the highway? If you’re like most people, you probably wouldn’t dare help the person for fear of overreacting and embarrassing yourself.
Now think about everyone around you having the exact same mindset—it’s easy to see how many emergency situations get overlooked. In fact, it is so prevalent that Latane and Darley came up with a term for it. “Pluralistic Ignorance” is used to describe situations where everyone acts as though there is no emergency, simply because that is what everyone else is doing.
This article was not meant to create a sense of despair as to your slim odds of receiving help in a public area should you ever need it (perhaps just a little). You can use your knowledge about the bystander effect to help both yourself and your friends and family be safer.
There are two main ways to overcome the power of the bystander effect, and the first is to single someone out. Calling out “Hey, you in the red sweatshirt, come help me!” creates a sense of urgency and responsibility in the person wearing that red sweatshirt, and they are much more likely to help you. The second is to make sure the situation is clearly an emergency. Even saying something like “Call an ambulance!” can do wonders for spurring others into action.
With the recent break-ins that have been occurring in off-campus student apartments, it is more important than ever to be vigilant of your surroundings and to be educated on how to help someone and receive help in an emergency situation. You should always check to see if someone is okay, call the police, or take some other action if you are unsure.
People’s safety is more important than the potential for embarrassment. No one is going to look down on you for being extra cautious in this unpredictable and sometimes dangerous world that we live in. Next time you drive past that broken-down car on the side of the highway, remember that that person might need your help.
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