In 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was attacked in the middle of a busy neighborhood in New York City. Despite loud calls for help and clear signs of distress, none of the 38 witnesses came to Kitty’s aid. Not a single person bothered to call the police; nobody went to fend off the attacker. With so many people around, how could it be that not a single person stepped in to help Kitty? Researchers John Darley and Bibb Latané tried to understand this behavior and found that the reaction to Kitty’s attack was not an anomaly. Repeatedly, they found that people will neglect to help others based on the assumption that other witnesses or participants in an encounter will take responsibility to help, or if they feel helping is not specifically their responsibility. This phenomenon was coined the “bystander effect,” sometimes also called “bystander apathy.”
When the symptoms of trauma and toxic stress show up in the workplace, do we stop to help? How often do we experience bystander apathy toward the psychological needs of those we work with? It is sometimes difficult to parse the lines between professional and personal, but in recent years it’s become clear that we are not islands; our personal lives are carried with us into work. We would argue that it is each of our responsibilities to step up and offer help to our colleagues, even if it means crossing that line from professional to personal. Building resilient organizations and resilient teams is a direct result of these offers of help. Resiliency is a group project, not a solo endeavor.
Part 3 of our quick guides for Trauma and Resilience at Work provides guidance on how to respond when a participant, colleague, or friend starts expressing a negative response to toxic stress or trauma. CSW uses the BEAM Collective’s (Black Emotional and Mental Health) LAPIS model because it is culturally responsive and emphasizes healing as a collective responsibility. Our guide further explains each step and offers potential actions, resources, and questions/statements to apply in workforce development settings. This resource will help empower individuals to be proactive workplace champions rather than passive bystanders. Ultimately, this results in organizations that have happier, more engaged staff and increased productivity and success.
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