Diffusion of Responsiblity

(Please watch the video at the bottom first)

I recently came across a link that randomly came up when I searched for a different video on Youtube that completely and utterly disgusted me. It's a video that, being 1:22 in length encompasses the attack of a middle aged white male by two black female youths. In the video (which I've included a link to) he is repeatedly attacked by the two girls with dozens, maybe hundreds of people watching. Not a SINGLE person decided to protest the attack nor did they step in to help him. He CLEARLY asks how these people could just sit here and let this happen, and I couldn't believe no one stepped in to offer assistance.

It brings me to the case of Kitty Genovese who was stabbed to death outside of her home in New York in 1964. She was 100 feet from her door with thirty-eight people hearing her cries, seeing her struggle, yet no one called the police or lifted a finger to help her until well after the attack had occurred, watching her nearly lifeless body attempt to stagger to its feet. They watched, as the attack went on and until it was over.

It's what social psychologists now refer to as "diffusion of responsibility". What ignites my anger is how, as a people in society can we allow this to happen! How does NO ONE feel obligated to step in and save their fellow man? In my opinion, those people who stand around and watch someone commit a crime as grave as the aforementioned should be prosecuted as a party to that crime. In the days of Genovese, people just watched, not helplessly, because there were definite ways of helping, but in the days of Youtube where people shoot videos 1:22 long and longer without helping, yet adding commentary to each visual blow by blow, that is a DEFINITE party to a crime in my book.

It is our social DUTY to correct an injustice in front of us, KNOWINGLY allowing things like that to happen only furthers us from the humane behavior that we should be exhibiting and only diminishes our standings as superior beings to primates and other animals. There's no wonder that shows like Candid Camera and What Would You Do have been so popular, human behavior is at times peculiar, and sometimes sickening.