Chapter 4: In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing
Summary
This chapter describes the works by psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané. They were trying to study groups of people in crisis and how individuals acted. Their study become of interest when in 1964 a woman by the name of Catherine Genovese was stabbed to death in Queens, New York. Her murder was of particular interest because it became famous as it was published in the NY Times. As the murderer was attacking Genovese, she was screaming for help and even though she was heard by approximately 38 neighbors, nobody came to her rescue. Darley's and Latané's interest started from trying to figure out the reason why nobody had come to the rescue. They set up an experiment to study what they called diffusion of responsibility.
Discussion
What I am about to write might sound absurd, but it is really the truth. I was reading this chapter in McDonald's on Wednesday before going to class. I had finished reading part of the chapter where the author talks about helping behavior in small and large crowds. As I was about to walk in to Zachry, I stepped on an icy stair and I feel to the ground and hurt my knee. As I was starting to get up, I heard someone offer me some help and I replied "Thanks, I am sure I am fine". As I answered to the individual who tried to help me, I immediately thought of the findings revealed in the chapter, it was true!!!! There was only me and the person who tried to help in this situation. Had I fallen in a place with more people, maybe nobody would have tried to help me.
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