AOW #8- Bystander Psychology: Why Some Witnesses to Crime Do Nothing

This article discusses the investigation of the 40 counts of child abuse against former defense coordinator Jerry Sandusky at Pennsylvania State University. On Wednesday, the head football coach, Joe Paterno, was fired for knowing about the abuse and not telling the police. After carefully scrutinizing the social psychology behind this case, it is proven that when something within a group is hidden, the tendency is toward protecting the reputation within the group without doing the right thing in order to avoid the consequences that will certainly follow if the secret is revealed. The author of this article is Maia Szalavitz, a neuroscience journalist whose work has been published in TIME Magazine, the New York Times, Elle, Scientific American Mind, the Washington Post, New Scientist and Psychology Today. She is the winner of the American Psychological Associations Division 50 Award for Contributions to the Addictions. The context of this piece is causal because the case has just been brought about by the secret of the 40 counts of child abuse that Jerry Sandusky was committing on young ten-year-old men. The purpose for this article is to offer the social psychological background of why Joe Paterno and another witness of previous rape, Mike McQueary, did not tell the police about the children being abused. Maia Szalavitz accomplishes her purpose through the use of logos when pulling content from credible psychologists to explain the behavior of people, as well as the similar stories that are discussed of people who did nothing and let innocent children become stabbed to death, harassed, or abused. The audience of this article is directed towards the thousands of kids and people who are against the decision of Paterno being fired and being very selfish at the fact that this man did not come forward and let innocent kids suffer. The people who are supporting Paterno only care about the football team's victory instead of the unethical actions committed by Sandusky. 


Friday, Maia Szalavitz. "Bystander Psychology: Why Some Witnesses to Crime Do Nothing – TIME Healthland." TIME Healthland - A Healthy Balance of the Mind, Body and Spirit. TIME, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/11/bystander-psychology-why-some-witnesses-to-crime-do-nothing/>.