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Originally Posted by Gilda
I think that understanding why people act the way they do is nearly always helpful in combatting undesirable behaviors.
Gilda
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I absolutely agree. But I also don’t think that Kitty Genovese was a victim of people being uneducated or not understanding human behavior. Kitty Genovese was possibly more a victim of an apathetic society than she was of a group of people in a panic due to not being exposed to as much as a freshman psych class. Apathy I believe sets in well before a person enters school.
I don’t recall the particulars but, I remember hearing of a situation similar to the Genovese crime in the 70s. I was but a young boy at the time, probably less than ten years old. But I remember hearing my mother and father discussing it after reading it in the paper. Their reaction was one of shock and outrage as to how a person’s neighbors would stand idly by while another person was (in this case) raped by a single attacker. The impression that my parents beliefs and opinions on this made more of an impact on me I feel than any psych or sociology class did later in life. Mom and dad believed that someone should have helped and I believe that my parents are the kind of people that would have in the least picked up a phone to call for help.
Works by Watson and Skinner or Maslow and Rogers are indeed important. Through the years others have certainly built upon their works as well as the works of others. Studies in sociology and psychology are of benefit to every future doctor, lawyer, businessman, teacher and police officer as well as any layperson. But I also feel that were mothers and fathers to do a better job of instilling a basic understanding of morals and respect for others before sending their children into the world society would be better served.