bystanders

The Bystander Effect is a Lie

Patricia MiltonBlog, New Plays

In 1964 Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old woman, was raped and murdered in Queens, New York. A New York Times reporter, using police interviews, wrote that 37 people witnessed the attack and refused to call the police or intervene in any way. Thus the “bystander effect” became popular in pop culture, even making its way into social psychology. The New York …