Sole Morality

Bystander Apathy: Good Men Doing Nothing

Authenticity and origin aside, I find the sentiment very true. Evil is an ever progressing force in the world and evil acts will always be attempted and committed. One can either sit idly by or take an active role in fighting against it. And no, complaining to your neighbor or friend about something doesn't count as "doing something."

One horrible form of this has been termed "bystander apathy." There is an article at uncommon-knowledge.co.uk that gives a good introduction to the phenomenon. I refer to it as a phenomenon as it is a measurable reaction that can be replicated. It is not isolated incidents.

Put simply, it boils down to the fact that if you are in a group of people when someone needs aid, you are less likely to do something. According to a study conducted shortly after the Kitty Genovese murder, which first brought bystander apathy to light, you are 54% more likely to receive aid from somone if they are the only one there than if they are in a group of four or more. In other words, the more people around you, the less likely anyone is to help.

Bystander apathy seems to stem from the idea that someone else will help, someone more qualified or better than them. This social phenomenon is technically referred to as "diffusion of responsibility" and another version of it is the "I was just following orders" justification that many Nazis used to explain their horrible actions in the Holocaust.

This bystander apathy has been seen again and again. There's this account of a stabbing on the upper level of a London bus. The author of the article admits to hearing the screams for help repeatedly over a period of time and just sitting there.

There's a report from just last August of a rape and stabbing, this one in the St. Paul, MN area that took place in an apartment building hallway. Five to ten people saw the attack and did nothing. The Associate Press coverage of the attack notes one witness walked up to see what was going on and then just pulled the hood of their sweatshirt up, turned around, and walked away.

Perhaps the most disturbing, at least to me, is from last July. A stabbing victim was laying on the floor of a convenience store. Five store customers simply step over her to continue with their shopping. Not turn around or walk around, they step over her. If that isn't appalling enough, one of them stopped and took a picture of her with a cell phone camera and still continued shopping.

To me, this is unbelievable. Where is the sense of moral decency in these people? Where is any semblance of concern for their fellow man? The apostle Paul certainly called this when he foretold that in the last days that "men shall be lovers of their own selves" and "proud."

To be fair, bystander apathy isn't a new development. Christ's parable of the good Samaritan shows two examples of apathetic bystanders who happen upon a man in need of medical care. Both pass by and leave the man for dead. Thankfully, a Samaritan does choose to help.

While there are no shortages of bystander apathy examples in our society, it is nice to hear about the occasional story of a good Samaritan. Such is the case coming out of Salem, OR that occurred in the early morning hours a week and a half ago. A 22 year old woman on crutches was making her way down the road when she was attacked and nearly raped by a 37 year old man. A van with five people in it stopped and three men from the van jumped out, pulled the attacker off of the woman and then held him for police.

I would hope that the last story is an example of the rule and not the exception to it, but I wonder. Are the cases of bystander apathy in the news more because they are the exception or are they really more common? Is concern for one's fellow man really so far gone in our society or are these isolated incidences? And then I have to wonder if our country's general trend of demanding that the government fix all of our problems is an extension of this bystander apathy. But that would be another post entirely.