Sophia Farrar, the good samaritan in the Kitty Genovese case
The Daily Drip
***WARNING***
This post is morbid and intense. It's important but it has some dark themes.
Stop here if you're not ready for it this morning. You can come back to this later.
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On March 16th, 1964, Kitty Genovese was outside her home in Queens, NY when she was stabbed, raped, and murdered.
What's crazy about this is that a few weeks later, reporters found out that almost 40 of her neighbors heard the whole thing and didn't call the police or come to her aid. There's a report of one of her neighbors yelling at the attacker from a window, but that's about it.
The shouting wasn't effective or helpful since the attacker came back a second time to rape and murder Genovese.
In psychology, we now refer to this as the "Bystander Effect." It's also related to the psychological phenomenon called the "diffusion of responsibility."
Everyone heard it. No one did anything. Why?
We tend not to act if we see other people in our situation. It turns out that the apartment building was tall and had windows that faced a courtyard. Witnesses could see other witnesses. Surely, someone was already calling the police.
When Sophia Farrar--one of Genovese' neighbors and close friends--heard what was going on, it was too late. Genovese died in her arms.
What can we do about this part of our brains? Yes, it's part of your brain just as much as it's part of mine and all 37 of those other inactive bystanders.
By being aware that we humans tend to do this, we can catch ourselves in these moments and act.
We can also implement systems that make it easier to report these incidents. This occurred 4 years before New York had implemented the 911 calling system.
We can also implement preventative measures, like mental health evaluations. It turns out that Genovese's attacker had a serious mental illness.
Let's recap those:
Understand your own brain and biases. Take action because you know better, not because others are already taking action.
Change and improve reactionary systems.
Invest in preventative systems.
This is a morbid, but important lesson.
It's front of mind for me since Sophia Farrar recently passed away, leaving her legacy as a good samaritan, the only one of 38 witnesses to take action.
Farrar gives us hope that we can do the right thing despite collective apathy.
Today, we honor Sophia Farrar. A polish immigrant from Queens, NY who worked for the Army Signal Corps and Western Union during World War II. She later managed a doctor’s office and performed secretarial and communications work for the American Cancer Society.
Thanks for giving us hope and action.