Social Science Bystander effect

[kfc1]

What's worse. Someone assaulting a woman in public or people not doing anything to help her?
I vote for the latter

 

[Freak Dodgeball Accident]

I used to think that I'd be one of the first to intervene if a girl was being assaulted. But there was an incident here in Ballarat a few years ago which has changed my mind.

Memory is a little hazy on the details, but it's something like a guy witnessed a girl being hit by their partner, he went over to break it up, he gets punched then falls and hits the concrete. He either died or had severe brain injuries.

Stuff like that is enough to turn me away from getting involved. If I did see something like that these days, I reckon I would run up and kick them as hard as I could in the knee or nuts, then run off.

Edit: Here's the article. I was a little off, they were only arguing. http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/535497/teen-to-face-death-charge/

Ballarat Magistrates Court heard Gram had been drinking with his girlfriend at Haida in Camp St before the alleged assault. Detective Senior Constable David Barry of the Victoria Police Homicide Squad said the pair left the premises to have a discussion about their relationship in a nearby courtyard at 12.15am.

Marshall and a friend were walking down Police Lane when they saw Gram and his girlfriend.Det Sen Const Barry told the court Gram was head butting a pole and became abusive towards Marshall and his friend when they approached to offer help. He said Gram threw a punch at Mr Marshall. "As a result of the punch he (Mr Marshall) fell backwards and struck his head on the concrete ground."Det Sen Const Barry said Mr Marshall was rendered unconscious and never regained consciousness.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

You were doing so well until here. You just cant help it can you?

You have already in this thread admitted to being fearful of your fellow man. The propaganda has turned your brain to mush. And yet you think I care for your opinions? You always bring a smile to my face, compadre.

 

[Quivorir]

My brain is hardly mush. I'd rather not die for somebody who I have never met. I grew up where people got stabbed just for walking through the park at night. I'm pretty sure my fear of being hurt is just.

 

[04 Durif]

Yes, Geoff Toovey does have a husky voice

 

[kanye_best]

This however is true. I personally wouldn't bother trying to stop a domestic altercation unless it seemed obvious - and I mean really obvious - that serious long-term damage was going to be done to person on the receiving end of the abuse. Sadly there are some women out there who expect to be assaulted as part of their relationship (or at least they behave like it). I know of guys who have stepped in and then been attacked by the woman. **** that. These bitches are with these cretins for a reason. I say leave them be.

i have never witnessed an altercation like this but you have to remember that if you do witness something like this in public you are only seeing a snippet out of their whole lives. stopping one incident like this won't prevent future ones and in fact might make it worse when they are alone again out of the public eye. then again, stepping in might make the victim feel that they are not alone and perhaps can seek help, but you never know. it is too convoluted a situation for an outsider to get involved in.

the fearmongering from commercial news stations has alot of responsibility for this. their aim is to instill fear and divide communities, to drive the average joe to fear his fellow man. walk with your head down, don't make eye contact, don't say hello, don't go out at night, sit home and watch the news.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

the fearmongering from commercial news stations has alot of responsibility for this. their aim is to instill fear and divide communities, to drive the average joe to fear his fellow man. walk with your head down, don't make eye contact, don't say hello, don't go out at night, sit home and watch the news.

And then if you do those things you are a racist.

 

[PP34]

In the case of the Melbourne one referenced earlier, the murder probably wouldn't have happened if the guy hadn't stepped in.

His girlfriend would have been murdered instead most likely. He was throwing her against a car.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

His girlfriend would have been murdered instead most likely. He was throwing her against a car.

But would he have got the gun out if he hadn't been interrupted?

 

[PP34]

But would he have got the gun out if he hadn't been interrupted?

Probably not, but he very easily could have killed his girlfriend with force alone.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

the fearmongering from commercial news stations has alot of responsibility for this. their aim is to instill fear and divide communities, to drive the average joe to fear his fellow man. walk with your head down, don't make eye contact, don't say hello, don't go out at night, sit home and watch the news.

Yep. Somebody benefits from a divided, scared populace - and it certainly isn't the divided, scared populace.

My brain is hardly mush. I'd rather not die for somebody who I have never met. I grew up where people got stabbed just for walking through the park at night. I'm pretty sure my fear of being hurt is just.

I've stumbled around Cranbourne drunk plenty of times, brother. And yes, I am sorry to report that the amount of tv you watch does in fact mean your brain is mush. You could fix it by unplugging the tv and reading non-fiction books, though. Within weeks you will have undone much of the damage; it is reversible to a large degree.

 

[Quivorir]

I've stumbled around Cranbourne drunk plenty of times, brother. And yes, I am sorry to report that the amount of tv you watch does in fact mean your brain is mush. You could fix it by unplugging the tv and reading non-fiction books, though. Within weeks you will have undone much of the damage; it is reversible to a large degree.

1. I didn't grow up in Cranbourne.
2. The only TV I watch is footy and the occasional Rules of engagement ep. I never watch TV otherwise.

 

[revival_mode]

Bit of topic but similar. Here's the scenario. You're driving down a road in the middle of nowhere and see a bird flagging you down to help her with a car issue. Would you help?

My first thought would be "nope, there's a guy hiding somewhere who's gonna rob me or whatever as soon as I get out my car" so I'll just look straight ahead and pretend I didn't see her. Would any of you pull over?

have done before & would probably do again only around my local area...

however i have heard of some horror stories of things going wrong.. apparently some guy was bashed, had acid thrown on him & his boke stolen down gippsland way i think it was last year. that shit is scary & not worth the risk

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

First thing that comes to mind when I saw this thread was Seinfeld, is that a bad thing?

 

[Boss Rarkley]

As a psych student i find this effect in its proper concept of a fear of embarrassment very intriguing.

 

[King Elvis]

Bit of topic but similar. Here's the scenario. You're driving down a road in the middle of nowhere and see a bird flagging you down to help her with a car issue. Would you help?

My first thought would be "nope, there's a guy hiding somewhere who's gonna rob me or whatever as soon as I get out my car" so I'll just look straight ahead and pretend I didn't see her. Would any of you pull over?

I was driving home from somewhere with a mate one night - drove past a guy absolutely screaming at his girlfriend on the side of the road, gesturing at her with real hostility. We pulled over just as he shoved her to the ground, she got up, he advanced on her again - my mate jumped on him and dragged him to the ground, I went over to her to calm her down and guide her away from him...

She went mental and blew up at me and my mate, told us to leave them alone, how dare we touch her boyfriend, blah blah blah.

****ing bogans, we couldn't believe it. I'd stop and do the same again, but I'd have second thoughts, and I might approach it differently.

 

[swiftdog]

- Not so subtle brag coming -

Out in Melb a few months back. I was driving as I had a heap of shit to do on Sunday so decided to leave somewhat early. Walking back to my car I find a guy (backed up by 6 or so mates) verbally abusing a young lady and her friend. The guy wasn't saying anything particularly insightful or intelligent, just the usual "you're a ****", "**** off campaigner" etc. The girl seemed pretty feisty herself and wasn't walking away like a scared little kitten, her friend had started walking off hoping that the original girl would follow (she was telling her just to follow and walk away etc). This was all happening pretty quickly but it got to a stage where it looked like the guy was going to throw a punch at the girl (with his dickhead mates backing him up). Basically I thought I'd intervene looking at the situation. I come over, tell the girl to just leave and talk to the bloke with the usual cliches of "don't worry about her", "just drop it, mate" etc. I wasn't being aggressive at all. Even one of his mates started to back me up and told the guy just to relax a little. Both the girls started walking away, they seemed OK so then I decided just to walk off up the street as well. The bloke was still pretty worked up but I didn't think anything of it. I was about 15 metres from the group of guys when I hear the guy running up the street behind me, hits me in the back of the head and then again when I turn around. Once I regained my composure he scurries off backs to his mates telling me to **** off as well. Genuine piece of shit hitting someone from behind. Anyway, the two girls saw this happen so they started walking and talking with me. Turned out the bloke got a decent hit on my nose and it had started gushing a little. They had some stuff in their bag to clean it up a little and we got to talking about how that started. Turns out the girl as they were walking past grabbed the guys hat and put it on his head backwards and kept walking. Apparently the guy found this offensive. I ended up driving the girls home as they were on the way and ended up having a couple of drinks with them back at their place. It eventually turned to the main girl saying that I really shouldn't be driving after being hit in the head so I should just crash there for the night. The other girl went to bed and the main girl decided to thank me for stepping in and being chivalrous, as she put it. I love feisty girls. Note - other girl had a boyfriend so MFF was off the cards. Moral of the story is that stepping in can be mutually beneficial


On the broken down car hypothetical situation someone posted earlier. I did something similar a couple of years back. Driving home from work at 3:00 am on a quietish suburban street (not quite the same as middle of nowhere but quiet enough to get jumped) see a guy and a girl hail me down. The guy just wanted a hand changing a tyre. Not sure how he couldn't manage it on his own but they said they'd been waiting a couple of hours and no-one had stopped for them. They were both pretty thankful for it. Not everyone is out to get you.

 

[King Elvis]

Man couldn't change his own tyre?

Was it Zoran? Croat tiger

 

[Spuddage]

Man couldn't change his own tyre?

Was it Zoran?

Unlikely unless the 'girl' was his mum.

 

[Starburns_]

Unlikely unless the 'girl' was his cousin.

Fixed for you.

 

[Spuddage]

Fixed for you.

I'm guessing his cousin would rather walk home (YC!) than get in his car after she was alerted to his sleazy comments regarding his wishes for their relationship.

 

[peppy la pew]

I was driving home from somewhere with a mate one night - drove past a guy absolutely screaming at his girlfriend on the side of the road, gesturing at her with real hostility. We pulled over just as he shoved her to the ground, she got up, he advanced on her again - my mate jumped on him and dragged him to the ground, I went over to her to calm her down and guide her away from him...

She went mental and blew up at me and my mate, told us to leave them alone, how dare we touch her boyfriend, blah blah blah.

******* bogans, we couldn't believe it. I'd stop and do the same again, but I'd have second thoughts, and I might approach it differently.

You should have got her number and sent some flowers

 

[courtjester]

Problem is there's a lot of 'roided and iced morons out there who are volatile as ****.

Far more than there used to be.

Morals/ethics have changed in the last 40 yrs also. Fights are not 1:1 anymore.

If I saw a kid or a woman being assaulted by one guy, I'd step in. Beyond one guy, I'm basically writing my own death sentence if I step in. I'd call cops etc, obv...

 

[the_interloper]

I went for a run many years ago and there was a damsel in distress parked on the side of the road. I asked her what the matter was. She said there was a spider in her car. I said "oh, well I'm scared of spiders" and she said "that's ok, i'll call my husband". I ran off, presumably with my handbag on my shoulder.

 

[peternorth]

- Not so subtle brag coming -

Out in Melb a few months back. I was driving as I had a heap of shit to do on Sunday so decided to leave somewhat early. Walking back to my car I find a guy (backed up by 6 or so mates) verbally abusing a young lady and her friend. The guy wasn't saying anything particularly insightful or intelligent, just the usual "you're a ****", "**** off campaigner" etc. The girl seemed pretty feisty herself and wasn't walking away like a scared little kitten, her friend had started walking off hoping that the original girl would follow (she was telling her just to follow and walk away etc). This was all happening pretty quickly but it got to a stage where it looked like the guy was going to throw a punch at the girl (with his dickhead mates backing him up). Basically I thought I'd intervene looking at the situation. I come over, tell the girl to just leave and talk to the bloke with the usual cliches of "don't worry about her", "just drop it, mate" etc. I wasn't being aggressive at all. Even one of his mates started to back me up and told the guy just to relax a little. Both the girls started walking away, they seemed OK so then I decided just to walk off up the street as well. The bloke was still pretty worked up but I didn't think anything of it. I was about 15 metres from the group of guys when I hear the guy running up the street behind me, hits me in the back of the head and then again when I turn around. Once I regained my composure he scurries off backs to his mates telling me to **** off as well. Genuine piece of shit hitting someone from behind. Anyway, the two girls saw this happen so they started walking and talking with me. Turned out the bloke got a decent hit on my nose and it had started gushing a little. They had some stuff in their bag to clean it up a little and we got to talking about how that started. Turns out the girl as they were walking past grabbed the guys hat and put it on his head backwards and kept walking. Apparently the guy found this offensive. I ended up driving the girls home as they were on the way and ended up having a couple of drinks with them back at their place. It eventually turned to the main girl saying that I really shouldn't be driving after being hit in the head so I should just crash there for the night. The other girl went to bed and the main girl decided to thank me for stepping in and being chivalrous, as she put it. I love feisty girls. Note - other girl had a boyfriend so MFF was off the cards. Moral of the story is that stepping in can be mutually beneficial

fuqt up copping a cowardly hit like that. dirty thing to do (hit someone from behind). worse than what boomer harvey did to picken.

pretty tough of the bloke to hit you then scurry off to his mates thereafter.

good that you weren't being aggressive. nothing worse than approaching a situation, or mocking someone, whilst being aggressive, or wearing aggressive clothes.