Kitty Genovese murder in the Big Apple is reportedly one of the urban legends well-known across the city. However, the story is not a legend but something that occurred 50 years ago. A woman had indeed been stabbed to death outside her NYC apartment while 38 of her neighbors listened to her pleas of help.
50 years ago, the Kitty Genovese murder rocked New York City. Genovese was a bar manager who had been stabbed to death on the front steps of her apartment. Despite her cries for help, not one of her neighbours rushed to save her from her cruel fate. The Kitty Genovese murder showed how callous New Yorkers can be in a report by the New York Times.
Related to the Kitty Genovese murder, the New York Times printed a story with the headline: "Thirty-Seven Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police." The story quickly spread around the world sparking outrage in its wake. Other New Yorkers were quick to slam the NYTimes for its allegedly erroneous account of the incident.
Yet, 50 years after the Kitty Genovese murder, everyone still asks: "Why did no one come to help Genovese when she was being stabbed to death?" Psychologists claim this was the merely the outcome of the "Bystander Effect." The "Bystander Effect" concludes that the more people who witness an incident are unlikely to help knowing they believe someone else will call the police or intervene.
The said "Bystander Effect" that occurred during Kitty Genovese murder is widely taught in psychology classes around the word. In a report by FOX News, one psychology professor from Fordham University, Dr. Harold Takooshian, has been holding a symposium on the Kitty Genovese murder every five years.
"The Kitty Genovese case has impacted society immensely," says Takooshian on the Kitty Genovese murder. "More than people know. The 911 system was not a national system before Kitty Genovese died. People did not respond to her screams that night. But her screams have been resonating for years."
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