The Genovese syndrome: the loneliness of the victim

Find out why you are unlikely to get help if you are in trouble in front of many witnesses. We are talking about the curious Genovese syndrome.

Genovese syndrome is a concept used to refer to the psychological phenomenon in which a person does not provide help, but rather immobilizes himself, when he observes an emergency situation where you are expected to provide support to another person who is in significant danger. It seems paradoxical, right?

The name of this syndrome arose from a crime that occurred in 1964 in the United States, in which a woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed in front of her apartment in the early hours of the morning and in front of dozens of witnesses. Nobody did anything to help her.

Such was the impact of the news that since 1968 Social Psychology has strived to respond to this phenomenon. Why didn’t the witnesses intervene? According to research, it appears that the likelihood of help from others increases markedly as there are fewer people in the problematic scene.

Genovese syndrome

On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York. And although there were already many examples of the loneliness of those who live in large cities and the lack of mutual interest among their inhabitants, this case became an uncomfortable symbol of that type of social apathy that characterizes large cities.

The events that gave rise to Genovese syndrome

The account of the events, according to the police report, is as follows: Kitty Genovese was returning home early in the morning after a hard day of work. She parked very close to her apartment and when she got out of the car she was attacked by a man who ran quickly towards her and stabbed her twice in the back.

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Their cries for help were drowned in the loneliness of the night, without anyone nearby offering help. A few minutes later, her attacker fled from her, leaving her badly injured.

After a few moments, the murderer returned to the scene and found his victim lying on the floor in the lobby of the apartment building and He continued his cruelty for approximately half an hour more.

A few minutes after the attack, an eyewitness called the police. When medical services arrived they could not save Kitty’s life, who died in the ambulance that was taking her to the hospital.

Genovese’s attacker

A few days later, The attacker, Winston Moseley, was located. A machinist by profession who was married and had three children. Under pressure from the authorities, he not only confessed to Kitty’s crime, but also declared two other murders.

Moseley’s psychiatric examination showed that he exhibited necrophilic behavior and had an antisocial personality. He was sentenced to unconditional prison for murder, where he spent the rest of his life.

Genovese’s murder caused a great shock in the country and instantly became a subject of controversy; above all, upon knowing that At least 38 people had witnessed the attack in some of its phases.

A total of 38 citizens witnessed the attack at some point, but Not a single person came to help the victim.without even calling the police until the assault was over, why didn’t anyone do anything to help her?

Reflecting on the topic and leaving psychological theories behind, this event should make us reconsider the quality of the society we are building and the values on which it is based and even the possible absence of these.

Diffusion of responsibility theory

The Genovese case caused a great social stir and gave rise to numerous psychological and psychosocial studies. John Darley and Bibb Latané analyzed the case carefully and developed the theory on diffusion of responsibility.

This theory is based on what is known as the bystander effect or Genovese syndrome and, greatly simplifying, it means that someone is less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when there are more people nearby than when they are alone.

Thus, this phenomenon can be explained by the principle that observers tend to assume that someone else will intervene, so in the end they all refrain from doing so. Darley and Latané reached these conclusions after their interesting social study.

Conclusion

As a final reflection, it should be added that, confronted with this phenomenon, we can come to notice the danger that human passivity can entail.

In fact, if as citizens we are not aware of this reality and do not make an effort to counteract it, you can end up in a situation of denial of social support.

Genovese syndrome should help us become aware of social aspects in which we can improve a lotso that events like this would never be repeated again.