Sociologists call it diffusion of responsibility. I call it the most surreal nightmare you can't wake up from.
Standing in a crowd of Chinese pedestrians and street vendors beside one of Beijing's many bus stops, you'd think that a victim could easily receive help if he were jumped. As I determined which bus route would take me back to my college campus before nightfall, I noticed the crowd suddenly part and center around a certain point. In my experience, this could only mean one thing: a fight.
Though most people would say that the sensible thing to do in this situation is to get as far away from the commotion as possible, one has to account for human nature and its lethal curiosity. So, I made my way toward the action and managed to get a spot that let me observe things clearly, but from a safe distance. It was then that I realized that this was not a fight.
At first, it seemed as if three men were outright mugging some poor guy in broad daylight. They were not only beating him cruelly, but also removing his personal belongings: his shoes, his messenger bag, his wallet, his belt... My guess was that, by the time someone called the police, the thieves would have been long gone. But the beating continued, and it became clear that this was not a robbery, but some sort of personal dispute.
The three men flung their victim's shoes to the side; they threw his bag onto the pavement; they scattered his money onto the street; and they used his belt to tie his hands as they punched him in the face and stomach and kneed him in the groin several times.
As the drama continued for an agonizing seven minutes, no one said a word, but looked on in powerless disapproval. Gradually, I felt something akin to panic: I knew I should be doing something; I knew this wasn't right; yet I couldn't shake myself from the stupor of helplessness as I vainly looked around for a face that also expressed a willingness to step in and take action.
Finally, a middle-aged Chinese man rode in on his bike, assessed the situation, and bellowed, "Why doesn't anyone help this man?" He shouted something along the same lines to some security guards who had been watching the whole thing. "Use you phones to call the police!" he pleaded.
When my hand instinctively went to my bag and dug out my cell, I realized that I probably could not converse very well with the Beijing police. I rushed to the cyclist's side and handed him my phone. A girl my age had been watching and helped the man operate the phone. Suddenly, everyone seemed to have waken up, and shouted for the small gang to stop. In another minute, the guards finally decided to help the poor victim. After the situation seemed to be calming down, my bus pulled up. I got my phone from the pedaling hero, and rode the hell away from that place.
Was this an instance of the diffusion of responsibility, a reality that exists in most large modern cities around the world? My understanding of the concept is that people assume that other citizens will to do the right thing and, so, do not become involved themselves. I'm not sure that's what this was. I got the sense that the crowd wanted to help the man but was being blocked by something. Was it the fear of being "next?"
I told one of my study abroad professors about this incident, and he admitted that he had been in similar situations. The problem? China's lack of health care. The humanity of the Chinese citizen has to compete with a society in which health insurance and the means to pay hospital bills is limited; where the fine for killing someone in a car accident is less than paying for the victim's medical bills; and where helping a fallen elderly person may be a scam in which you are blamed for knocking that person down in the first place (which means you're responsible for the cost of the injury).
Not too long ago, the Beijinger ran several articles about a foreigner who had witnessed a hit and run, helped the victim call the police, and spent the night in jail because the police, against the word of the victim himself, decided that the foreigner was responsible and needed to pay the medical fees. The moral of the story: In China, someone always has to pay, and the government will go to any lengths to make sure it doesn't have to bear that burden. Therefore, we are looking at an atmosphere where it is in the citizen's financial and judicial interests to just walk away.
I don't know if this is why the crowd took so long to assist the beaten man. However, I find it amazing that the words of one clear-minded man could rouse people to enforce justice.
As for me: I'm not what you would call emotional or faint-hearted, but one thing's for sure. As the victim's bruised face and bloody mouth were pressed between the cold pavement and the boot of his attacker: as his eyes met mine, it was the first time I have ever been on the verge of sobbing.
Standing in a crowd of Chinese pedestrians and street vendors beside one of Beijing's many bus stops, you'd think that a victim could easily receive help if he were jumped. As I determined which bus route would take me back to my college campus before nightfall, I noticed the crowd suddenly part and center around a certain point. In my experience, this could only mean one thing: a fight.
Though most people would say that the sensible thing to do in this situation is to get as far away from the commotion as possible, one has to account for human nature and its lethal curiosity. So, I made my way toward the action and managed to get a spot that let me observe things clearly, but from a safe distance. It was then that I realized that this was not a fight.
At first, it seemed as if three men were outright mugging some poor guy in broad daylight. They were not only beating him cruelly, but also removing his personal belongings: his shoes, his messenger bag, his wallet, his belt... My guess was that, by the time someone called the police, the thieves would have been long gone. But the beating continued, and it became clear that this was not a robbery, but some sort of personal dispute.
The three men flung their victim's shoes to the side; they threw his bag onto the pavement; they scattered his money onto the street; and they used his belt to tie his hands as they punched him in the face and stomach and kneed him in the groin several times.
As the drama continued for an agonizing seven minutes, no one said a word, but looked on in powerless disapproval. Gradually, I felt something akin to panic: I knew I should be doing something; I knew this wasn't right; yet I couldn't shake myself from the stupor of helplessness as I vainly looked around for a face that also expressed a willingness to step in and take action.
Finally, a middle-aged Chinese man rode in on his bike, assessed the situation, and bellowed, "Why doesn't anyone help this man?" He shouted something along the same lines to some security guards who had been watching the whole thing. "Use you phones to call the police!" he pleaded.
When my hand instinctively went to my bag and dug out my cell, I realized that I probably could not converse very well with the Beijing police. I rushed to the cyclist's side and handed him my phone. A girl my age had been watching and helped the man operate the phone. Suddenly, everyone seemed to have waken up, and shouted for the small gang to stop. In another minute, the guards finally decided to help the poor victim. After the situation seemed to be calming down, my bus pulled up. I got my phone from the pedaling hero, and rode the hell away from that place.
Was this an instance of the diffusion of responsibility, a reality that exists in most large modern cities around the world? My understanding of the concept is that people assume that other citizens will to do the right thing and, so, do not become involved themselves. I'm not sure that's what this was. I got the sense that the crowd wanted to help the man but was being blocked by something. Was it the fear of being "next?"
I told one of my study abroad professors about this incident, and he admitted that he had been in similar situations. The problem? China's lack of health care. The humanity of the Chinese citizen has to compete with a society in which health insurance and the means to pay hospital bills is limited; where the fine for killing someone in a car accident is less than paying for the victim's medical bills; and where helping a fallen elderly person may be a scam in which you are blamed for knocking that person down in the first place (which means you're responsible for the cost of the injury).
Not too long ago, the Beijinger ran several articles about a foreigner who had witnessed a hit and run, helped the victim call the police, and spent the night in jail because the police, against the word of the victim himself, decided that the foreigner was responsible and needed to pay the medical fees. The moral of the story: In China, someone always has to pay, and the government will go to any lengths to make sure it doesn't have to bear that burden. Therefore, we are looking at an atmosphere where it is in the citizen's financial and judicial interests to just walk away.
I don't know if this is why the crowd took so long to assist the beaten man. However, I find it amazing that the words of one clear-minded man could rouse people to enforce justice.
As for me: I'm not what you would call emotional or faint-hearted, but one thing's for sure. As the victim's bruised face and bloody mouth were pressed between the cold pavement and the boot of his attacker: as his eyes met mine, it was the first time I have ever been on the verge of sobbing.
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1 comments:
I left a Long-assed comment but it didn't post (thanks google). ANYWAY, i think it's a mixture of diffusion of responsibility and group think. People don't like to be the initiators because it singles us out. Now their problems (in the case the man whose ass was kicked) become our problems. I think it's a relic of the cavemen days. If you did that back then you had the potential to be eaten as well. Furthermore, people are raised following authority figures. When there's no clear sign of authority, often times people panic. In this case, once the middle aged man took control, everyone felt more comfortable doing what they KNEW was the right thing to do (call the cops). The group think comes into play when one person used their phone, others joined in the assault against the bullies. It was now safe to do so. I think at the end of the day, people are afraid to be uncomfortable. people will help if others are doing so, but to risk your neck for someone else is something else....
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