Help Or Walk On By

[Bazile]

If you were walking down the street and saw someone being mugged would you help or walk on by ?

[daffy654]

I would be tempted to arm the mugger if they were attacking certain members of my family.

[rockyracoon]

Hell yes, if it was one of mine.

[China Doll]

My paternal side I wouldn't touch with yours and my maternal uncles are pricks... other than that I love them all dearly :c)

[tamborine]

I would foto for evidence then swing into bashing attackers with all adrenalins pumping

[mccfluff]

depends on the size and age of the attacker. i can be quite scary.

if i had my sensible head on then i would phone the police, but its quite likely i would go barging in

[Svejk]

Muggers should only operate in the shadows.
If they do it where bystanders might catch them there's something very wrong happening to society.

[Mosaic]

I would be first on the mobile dialling 999 then assessing how much diference I could make by screaming, yelling, and weilding my old-lady-umbrella.
Unless it was the cow I worked with in Cheshire in which case I'd help.

[keyplus90]

I would do what my instincts will tell me at that time because there are certain situations where you can't plan and things happen on auto pilot.

[wildwood]

Everyone dreams of someday saving a baby in a runaway car etc. It happened to me once when some *** with a toddler in the car left the automatic car motor running to get some money from the ATM.
I'm ashamed to say that I was absolutely petrified for the child's safety as the car wheeled across a busy street and by the time I recovered it was too far away. Luckily no accident resulted and the car stopped against a curb.

[joko]

its not worth the risk for some stranger possessions.

let the attacker take their wallet etc

i would try to get a picture, call the police, then make a lot of noise from a bit of a distance to hopefully 'spook' them into running off.

i would only actually physically intervene if it was a family member or close pal.

[goodlife]

Serious problems and shocking events have become everyday news around the world! What does it mean?

[naomi24]

It means that technology and communication have improved and we are now more aware of events than we were in the past.

[vascop]

A few year's ago in Barcelona I was the victim of a complicated trick to steal my small haversack, which involved pouring liquid chocolate onto my back and then someone pointing it out and offering to clean my clothes in a fountain and then stealing my haversack while I was washing the chocolate of my clothes.
I immediately gave chase shouting abuse in English and after about 200 metres the thief dropped the haversack and climbed a wall to escape.
There was nothing valuable in the sack, just a jumper and a guide to Barcelona etc.
If I had been asked whether I would react in this way I would have said no, but there you go I did.

[Scylax]

For a definitive answer I would refer Bazile to the work of Darley and Latane (1968), and the earlier Berschied and Walster (1967). Irving, Piliavin et al (1969) contributed valuable insights too. All based their work on the murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens (New York). Many factors influence the 'Good Samaritan' response, both positive and negative. It all depends...

Coincidentally, a news item in today's D. Telegraph tells of an aging man who was pepper-sprayed, arrested and spent several hours in police custody when he attempted to intervene in a knife attack on a 3rd. person. This Good Samaritan did not even receive a police apology when he was eventually released. There is a moral there somewhere.

[mallyh]

id like to think id help i could get quite vicious with my walking stick and handbag which always weighs a ton

[woofgang]

I honestly thin that you dont know what you will do till it happens. I hope I would be thinking enough to do 999 first while shouting. I would certainly not wade in against a weapon, especially a gun.

[Baldric]

^^^^^ Who left the door open? ^^^^^
we seem to have had a couple of religionists sneak in back there!