How Common Is Bystander Apathy?
It is difficult to judge from newspaper accounts the extent of this phenomenon. Situations where many persons observe a brutal murder are more likely to receive press coverage than those in which a person attempting a homicide was forcefully stopped by a bystander. In the latter situation, homicide did not occur and, at best, the event may be defined as an altercation, an unnewsworthy event that is often not even reported to the police. Even if court adjudication resulted, it would most likely be “assault with attempt to do great bodily harm. ” Obviously, sometimes people help and sometimes they don’t-they may even help in life threatening situations more often than not. And not helping may more often make headlines. The only way to gather accurate data is random interviews. The research that has been completed indicates that the problem is widespread. Harold Takooshian staged mock crimes to explore the reasons for public “indifference” to other’s difficulties (Gergen and Gergen, 1981)
