| Darley and Latané’s publication of "Why people
Don’t Help In A Crisis" portrays how the weaknesses of society influence the
individual. According to Darley and Latané, "the bystander’s reactions are
shaped by the actions of others." To some extent this is true, but the main reason
that people do not interact in an emergency is because the individual does not believe
that it is their duty to interact. The difference between the American that aids a victim
and the American that turns their back on a victim is the intervening American realizes
that it is his problem and only he can fix it. The position of Darley and Latané
concludes that individuals choose to ignore a situation because they follow other
people’s actions. But what makes bystanders tend to not react to an emergency? The
bystander usually is not in a position or a state of mind to react. They will wave a
situation off because they do not want to get involved—either due to lack of time or
selfishness. They will see the emergency as the victims problem, not their own. It is much
easier for the bystander to simply walk away. Their lives will only be affected if they
intervene.
Most Americans are easily able to identify a serious situation as a emergency. If a
bystander does not notice an emergency, then he is not truly a bystander. Not too long
ago, my car broke down along a main highway. We were on the shoulder for 45 minutes. While
2 cars stopped because of my emergency flashers, 3 highway patroll cars passed right by.
The cars that stopped did so becase they valued helping another individual over pretending
not to notice.
America is composed of those who contribute to society, and those who take from
society. Together, it creates a balance which makes America what it is today. Americans do
not react to emergency’s because they tend to take the easiest way out. Their
selfishness outweighs their compassion to provide assistance. Untill all Americans realize
that another individual’s problem is their problem, they will continue to turn their
backs and walk away. |
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This essay is an example of developing competences as
a response to the passage and the essay topic. Its first paragraph indicates how important
Darley and Latané claim the influence of other bystanders to be, but provides a very
limited reporting of the authors’ ideas: the essay does not show how Darley and
Latané claim the presence of others influences the process by which bystanders notice and
identify an emergency and take responsibility for intervening in it. (These ideas lie
behind the openings of paragraphs two and three, but they are not identified as components
of Darley and Latané’s view.) A reader who did not already know "Why People
Don’t Help in a Crisis" would not gain a useful understanding of its views from
this essay. Just as its presentation of Darley and Latané’s
ideas is partial and unconnected, this essay’s presentation of its own ideas lacks
focus and coherence. Apparently its writer wants to argue for a motivation for
bystanders’ inaction besides the influence of others, but at various points the essay
mentions several possibilities ("realizes that it is his problem," paragraph
one; "lack of time or selfishness," paragraph two; "’take the easy way
out, "paragraph four) without saying how they are related to each other or developing
them with examples. Further, the one paragraph with a narrative example does not hang
together: in paragraph three, we are not told how the writer knows the three highway
patrol cars that passed by his stalled car were "pretending not to notice," or
why their drivers were "not truly … bystander[s]".
As a whole, this essay suggests that its writer has some useful ideas about
"Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis," but it doesn’t present the
passage or its own ideas fully, clearly, or coherently enough for us to understand them.
In spite of the fact that its command of written English is generally acceptable, this
essay shows that its writer will benefit from reading and writing experience to prepare
for college work.
Overall Evaluation: DEVELOPING COMPETENCE |
