This is the third blog to my TED talk. I wanted to branch out and select different issues in society that can relate to people not speaking out. According to a survey taken by The National Institute of Justice, in July 2000 around 6 million men and women were victims of domestic violence. With these statistics, how many acts of domestic violence took place in public? How many people have seen the aftermath of a domestic violence victim at work, school, or in the general public? Of those groups, how many people took a stand and spoke out to help the person? Judging from the “bystander affect”, many say nothing. The “bystander effect” refers to a situation where the larger the crowd is, the less likely someone will step in and help. Many have to question why this would occur. People feel that others will step in. This is called the diffusion theory. Another answer to the bystander effect is the more people around not saying anything leaves the rest of the people to think that there is nothing wrong. With both of these explanations, I am not too sure what to think. I would guess the more people around the more confidence others would have to speak out. Wrong.
In a hidden camera series on ABC titled, What Would You Do? news anchor, John Quinones, puts the “bystander effect” theory to the test. The results are surprisingly alarming. Here they use two female actresses; one white and one black. The white woman is shown first with her abusive boyfriend telling at her then grabbing her arm. After seeing the domestic violence takes place; a man and his wife stand up for the woman. After the couple stands up for the victim the producer asked the couple, why they stepped in; their answer was not surprising. In the next experiment a black woman is then put in place and like the last scene her boyfriend starts yelling at her and grabs her arm. The boyfriend then walks out, and two women come to her rescue. When looking at this clip with the black woman present, pay close attention to the white man in the background. He looked to me like he knew something was wrong but just sat there and did nothing. I left the link at the bottom so you can see for yourself.
Therefore, the question arises again; Why do people walk by when things do not seem right, and refuse to speak out? The paragraphs above, is one theory to explain the reasoning behind why people just walk by, but I do not think those reasons are good enough. If you were to ask people what they would do if they saw someone in trouble, no one would hesitate to say help them but; very few do. There is a song by Tommy Shane Steiner titled What if She’s An Angel. The lyrics highlight different situations that people are confronted with and what to think about. The song has a very inspirational message, which may play in your mind when different situations arise. Maybe you will think twice after hearing what he has to say. Feel free to initiate conversation and ask questions that may come to mind after watching and listening to both clips; it will help me a lot.
http://youtu.be/Tuv2RKJmXn4
http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/
In a hidden camera series on ABC titled, What Would You Do? news anchor, John Quinones, puts the “bystander effect” theory to the test. The results are surprisingly alarming. Here they use two female actresses; one white and one black. The white woman is shown first with her abusive boyfriend telling at her then grabbing her arm. After seeing the domestic violence takes place; a man and his wife stand up for the woman. After the couple stands up for the victim the producer asked the couple, why they stepped in; their answer was not surprising. In the next experiment a black woman is then put in place and like the last scene her boyfriend starts yelling at her and grabs her arm. The boyfriend then walks out, and two women come to her rescue. When looking at this clip with the black woman present, pay close attention to the white man in the background. He looked to me like he knew something was wrong but just sat there and did nothing. I left the link at the bottom so you can see for yourself.
Therefore, the question arises again; Why do people walk by when things do not seem right, and refuse to speak out? The paragraphs above, is one theory to explain the reasoning behind why people just walk by, but I do not think those reasons are good enough. If you were to ask people what they would do if they saw someone in trouble, no one would hesitate to say help them but; very few do. There is a song by Tommy Shane Steiner titled What if She’s An Angel. The lyrics highlight different situations that people are confronted with and what to think about. The song has a very inspirational message, which may play in your mind when different situations arise. Maybe you will think twice after hearing what he has to say. Feel free to initiate conversation and ask questions that may come to mind after watching and listening to both clips; it will help me a lot.
http://youtu.be/Tuv2RKJmXn4
http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/
I think that this is a great topic. I often hope that I have enough courage to lend a helping hand or speak up if I see or hear something bad. I think sometimes people are too afraid of putting themselves in danger. I wonder if there is a way to train or at help people feel more comfortable speaking up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%, most people stand on the sidelines and think someone else is going to help. Also, i think people might be fearful of there own safety when confronting such situations. I dont think most people are confrontational and stay away from this situations. I for one and not confrontational at all, ill walk around the long way just to avoid someone i don't want to talk to, let alone confront some domestic abuse. Also, some might think that interfering might make things worse for when those fighting get home. Regardless of peoples reasons for not stepping in, i think it is our responsiblity as people/neighbors to do something. That being said i believe people can help themselves and if your in such a problem relationship then GET OUT!!! i find it hard to sympathize with a victim of domestic violence who stays in it.
ReplyDeleteI too find it quite amazing that people won't stand up for others they see being abused. I am the first to say, let's call the cops, however those around me tell me I am crazy and I could be the next victim if they find out who called on them.
ReplyDeleteI lived in a duplex where the couple downstairs faught constantly. It was terrible to hear through the walls and I wanted to call the police so many times, but my husband didn't want any parts of it. He said he would go down if it got too bad. What is "too bad?" The yelling and screaming was bad enough in my book, especially when I have a small child living directly above them, which is the main reason my husband didn't want any trouble.
I totally get his point and him wanting to protect our family, but the woman downstairs also need protection.
The problem is that most times, the woman doesn't press charges against the man and then you become the enemy just trying to save her from another beating.
Sometimes your damned if you do and your damned if you don't!
When is enough, enough?!?!?!
Kathy
Kerrie, I've seen this show before and Oprah Winfrey actually did a segment on this. I am not surprised at all about how frequently people just walk away from situations. I had an occurence at work where a local man who comes in all the time with his wife got into an argument with her and went to hit her. The woman I was working with and myself kept yelling at the man and picked up the phone to call the police. We all knew how he beat and abused his wife. The man left and his wife quickly ran after him. The man and his wife still come in together and all of the girls that I work with, including myself, will not kick him out because we do not know what he is capable of. If he could beat his wife he could certainly attack us. I think its great you are shedding light on this topic and I loved the video clips!
ReplyDelete