Codie Eggleston
Psychology Paper 3 Bystander Effect
Nov. 12 2012
Bystander Effect
When I was pregnant with my oldest son Ramierro in 2005, I had made a friend that happened to be in Pueblo County Jail. As I was about to visit my friend and go in to the jail I wasn’t really feeling so good since I had just been hit by my ex’s car and had broken my leg. As I was about to go in I felt worse, my head was hurting and I was very dizzy. I fell to the ground and started to seize. People literally walked over me while looking at me but no one came to my side. I remember that my friend had seen it from the third floor and was banging on the window screaming for people to help me. The ambulance showed up within 15 minutes but only a few correction officers came to my aid and only minutes before the EMTs got there.
The Bystander Effect talks about if someone was in need of assistance that person would have a better chance of getting someone’s help if their we at least one person by themselves that witnessed the scene opposed to if someone needed help or assistance and several people having witnessed it. This happens because others in a group feel as though someone else may have or will give aid or that someone has already called for help, taking little or no personal responsibility in helping someone that may truly need it. In which case, people rationalize and not feel as guilty because there were several other people there. In my case that seems to be true. There were several people who saw me, looking, pointing, walking over me while bending down to see if I was breathing (I’m not sure why he bent down I just assumed it was to see if I was breathing) but did nothing to help me. I feel that even the EMTs could have been their sooner if someone would have just called it in sooner.
I was quite upset that no one came to my aid and that because no one came forward to help me or waiting to make...