Ethics

There are many complex ethics to this subject, and each is in place in order to protect both the research and the researcher. One important part of ethics in research is addressing limitations. 

In this study, for example, there are limitations. Every experiment and study has its faults, in fact, and researchers who practice integrity are able to recognize their restrictions. In this case, it was researcher bias, sample profile, and time. By stating the limitations of a study, future researchers can strive for even more accuracy.

I've also included this research assignment because it helped me understand what qualified as a scholarly, credible source versus what may discredit me. This activity relates to ethics because it is the duty of a researcher to know the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources. Without this knowledge, one’s work could be inaccurate, misleading, or harmful. 

Discussions

The Bystander Effect

I have witnessed the bystander effect and been part of it numerous times, especially as a child. In school, they often teach about bullying and encourage the bystander to overcome their fear of responsibility. In CPR classes, this is taught because the bystander effect often occurs for those with CPR training when someone within a larger group goes into cardiac arrest. Still, Kitty Genovese's story horrified me. To even imagine watching someone be brutally assaulted and/or killed and do nothing at all is incredibly saddening. However, it makes me consider all of the times I've kept walking past people in public who I thought were experiencing an emergency. Just as discussed in the textbook, I see that no one else is concerned and therefore release stress over the situation. Many times, it is a safety concern; "What if they attack me? What if it's a trick?" 

Ever since a bullying experience in elementary school, I've tried to overcome the bystander effect in verbal conflicts. As a queer person, I also have a general understanding to stick up for others. Violence, however, I imagine I would have a much harder time reacting to. I don't believe a 911 phone call or something less involved would be difficult, but stepping in a hostile scene certainly would. I hope that if I am ever presented with the unfortunate opportunity, I help in every way I can. 

Myers, D. G. & Twenge, J. M. (2022). Social Psychology (14th ed.). McGraw Hill.

The Bystander Effect- An Additional Note on Ethics

Kitty Genovese's story, as told by psychology textbooks, is far less disappointing in terms of how witnesses reacted than I previously believed. Rather than be completely ignored, Kitty was helped in small ways by dozens of people. Some called the police, some shouted in intervention, and the last woman to see Kitty held her in her arms until medics arrived. This is, of course, according to these witnesses in trial. It is entirely possible that they changed their stories to hide any shame. Still, a question of ethics must be raised when spreading disputed information as fact in textbooks and schools. Kitty Genovese deserves her truth to be told, whatever that may be. Read about her life here.

The Misinformation Effect and Me

Due to dissociative amnesia, the misinformation effect has happened to me many times throughout my childhood. Unfortunately, most of these experiences have been negative or traumatic- which sounds relatively accurate for a subject as delicate as memory. Many arguments or moments of tension, I can recall, changed as I learned more about the entire situation. For example, I remember many fights between my brothers and me that were more or less chaotic than they actually were. I thought for so long that, when I was a toddler, I drew a knife on my brother. It took my mother finally explaining to me as an adult for me to realize that wasn't what happened. Instead, our other brother pulled it on me. It's so fascinating (and sometimes horrifying) how the brain warps an experience in order to better fit your conscience (mine being guilty).

Social media and technology have both helped raise awareness and also created more conflict. With the information available, especially when we are told a story of how something happened through a post or graphic, it's so easy to genuinely believe that your experiences were inaccurate. Sometimes, our brains even want us to believe that something worse happened in order to provide some form of self-validation. I have come to the point of being unable to trust my own memory concerning traumatic events in my past because of this. 

Suggestibility, especially in therapy, is dangerous. To call it unethical is to diminish a problem that often leads to mental anguish. It's a sensitive subject because many of us, including myself, want to recall specific events in order to heal from the effects of such. At the very least, we crave closure. However, allowing someone or even something to add in details or suggest that certain things happened when they may not have could lead to a person believing that they experienced something "worse" than they actually did. The confusion, shame, and other feelings that come with this are devastating. 

David G. Myers,  Jean M. Twenge. (2022). Social Psychology (Fourteenth edition, pages 51-54). McGraw-Hill. https://prod.reader-ui.prod.mheducation.com/epub/sn_9a5c1/data-uuid-9a468453fcc24b6083c4b7379ff3b7e8