Kitty Genovese, the Story Lives On

When I was a kid I remember being thunderstruck by a story of monumental indifference in the heart of a big city, New York. It was the story of the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese witnesses by dozens but nobody had the decency to come to her aid. Worse, none even bothered to pick up the phone to call the police.

Well... the social pathology of indifference lives on. Here is a story from Yahoo! news out of Toronto:

A 66-year-old woman, who was found without vital signs on a Toronto driveway in the bitter cold, died after no one answered her cries for help, police said Monday.

Police called it a "tragic death" that might have had a different outcome, if only someone had called them.

A newspaper delivery woman found the woman at about 5:30 a.m. Monday on Kennaley Cres. in the Brimley Road and McNicoll Avenue area, just a block away from her home, police said.

It's believed the woman, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had wandered away from her home in -20 degree temperatures around 2 a.m., police said.

Sgt. David Dube said some neighbours heard the woman crying out in distress in the driveway, but no one called 911 or came to her aid.

"I can tell you around 2 a.m., through our investigation, there's a couple of neighbours in the area who did hear a scream," said Dube.

"We do not suspect foul play. We believe she was distraught and was perhaps looking for help," he said.
"I think one of them actually saw this person in a bit of distress but didn't know what was going on but did not call us," added Dube.

The veteran officer, who's been on the force for 24 years, said he was "somewhat surprised" no one called police, noting it is a good community. He urged people to call police immediately if they hear someone screaming for help.

About twenty years ago I read a book by a psychologist who taught at the University of Arizona who described how she dealt with this well known human reaction, i.e. if a crowd observes something bad, no body will move to help. If you are in trouble and there is only one person around, they will generally come to your aid. But when a crowd is there, people look to others for clues and wait for somebody else to make the first move and that often means nobody comes to your aid! Know this psychological trait, she found herself in a serious automobile accident. She realized nobody was stopping to help. So she got onto the street and pointed at individuals to make a direct request and thereby break the odd "let the other guy respond" inhibition. It helped save the life of her passenger. It is a trick that I've remember and put in my mental toolbag. If ever I'm in trouble, I will know to use it. And, hopefully, if ever I'm in a crowd observing something bad happening, I'll recall this to help me overcome my reluctance to act.