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What Would You Do?

This topic carefully analyses how people may respond to situations that do not concern them.

The following experiment was recently conducted by Dr Phillip Mc Graw:

A young couple, both in their early twenties, are having an argument on a busy sidewalk. The argument escalates into violence, whereby the young man begins to slap and shake the young woman, who responds to all of this, by screaming for him to stop. If you were nearby, what would you do?

Do You What

The answer to this depends on my location. If I am in Trinidad, then I may actually ask the woman if she would like me to help specifically, then I would make threats to the man to see what he has on him. Reason for this is that in the past I have seen where the woman actually turns around and gets angry with you if you help. Then the ignorance here of men warrants that they kill you for intrusion - neither of which are worth it.

If I am in another country I may try to subdue the man while requesting help from others around. Sadly, we live in such a precarious world where such incidents could have so many meanings that you could be placing yourself in more danger that is worth it.

What Would You Do? Health & Special Psychology

With much fear I would approach the two and try to help them, right after having called the local authorities. I would do the same thing if it was the woman hitting the man.

Domestic violence for me is one of the scariest places to get involved as they most likely do not want any help and can quickly turn on the one who offers them aid. My main goal would be to get the two to calm down and to get them to realize their action are not healthy and to seek professional help. I would also advise the abused to separate themselves from the abuser for a few weeks while they seek help. Not a permanent thing but just some time for them to reflect on their relationship and where it is and where they want it to be.

Do You What

JB I think your answer is very insightful. If I am ever faced with this situation, I would either call the police or enlist the help of two robust, tall men, to intervene.

The interesting part of this experiment is, over three hundred pedestrians did not provide any assistance, in stopping the fight. Ironically, three women were the heroines in this experiment. Two women tried to stop the fight and eventually ended up calling the police. Another woman's approach was very unique. She came up to the woman who was being abused and gently said, "Come with me." Dr Phil commends this approach since it would be prudent not to confront the abuser, in such a volatile situation. Here is a link to the Dr Phil website which reveals the results of this experiment. This link also illustrates how people respond when faced with ethical dilemmas.

https://drphil.com/shows/show/855/

Do You What

Hard question,

I now live in a small town where I could get away intervening with a situation of domestic violence. I definitely would were I live.

But when I lived in Phoenix Arizona, a city of about 3 million, It was hard to get involved in dangerous situations as you did not know if the woman or man would turn on you. If I was with my family, would I want to risk their lives to stop someone from getting hurt? I cannot realistically answer this without some deep thought. I probably would be more inclined if I was alone, but I would definitely call the police first, so that if I were killed, at least someone would be there to find my body.

I suppose the experiment shows how little we as society are willing to help someone we do not know.

What Would You Do?

Isn't it interesting how we all are wondering if the person who 'seems' to need our help is really genuine or not - I think that is the scary part of the world we need in. Wolves these days play the part of victim ever so well, even just up to the point of killing you.

What You Do

I would definitly intervene. That's my personality and I cannot really control that part . If I see someone getting hurt, I just can't make a blind eye. I would first call the police and then ask the lady if she needs my help (coming with me, etc). I won't even talk to the abuser unless he talks to me.

A friend of mine told me sometime ago how this guy and woman were fighting in a car park here in Trinidad. The man started beating up the woman and she was beating him up back and everyone at the car park were just looking at the scene as if it was a reality show. A guy even pulled his lunch box (standing at the car park lot) and started eating it while watching the whole thing.

What You Do Psychology Special & Health

This is very embarrassing and not to mention appalling LDS. Unfortunately, this seems to be the way most Trinidadians respond to violence or (to use my friend's terms,) "bacchanal."

I think in today's society, people are becoming more and more desensitized by violence. A sociological explanation for this alarming behaviour is, almost everyday we are exposed to it: we are bombarded by crime on the news, we read about it in magazines or newspapers and we pay money, to see it in a cinema. I blame the media for twisting the concept of violence as very exciting and glamorous. For example, have you ever noticed how many horror movies are released and most of all, how many people are anxious to view these horror flicks? Horror movies such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "The Hills Have Eyes," "Saw," "Friday 13th," "Child's Play," all depict violence as exciting and makes the viewers addicted to it. Action packed movies such as, "Kill Bill," "Mr & Mrs Smith" and "Bad Boys" (to name a few) all portray violence as easy, tempting, inevitable and very glamorous. According to what I have learnt in sociology, once an individual views a violent movie for the first time, his inhibitions would mould his response to be shocked, horrified or disgusted. But after seeing over a thousand violent movies, the individual's inhibitions are lowered and he may begin to view the violence as acceptable. Perhaps this explanation, may be applied to how Trinis behave or people all over the world, when faced with violent behaviour.