Chapter 19 At Issue Questions

AT ISSUE: UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DO BYSTANDERS HAVE AN ETHICAL OBLIGATION TO INTERVENE?

  1. Both Skenazy and Nocera mention the case of Kitty Genovese, but they use it to make different points. Explain how each writer interprets the story’s significance and how each writer uses it to support his or her argument. Which writer uses the story more effectively? Why?

  2. As Skenazy concedes, the commonly known version of the Kitty Genovese murder—in which no one helped Genovese—has “come under fire” (para. 1). According to contemporary accounts, several people did actually try to help Genovese. Does this factual discrepancy matter? Why do you think the original version of the event (regardless of its accuracy) continues to resonate?

  3. Nocera writes that all of us would like to think we would act heroically to save another person in an emergency; as a result, he asserts, we are “quick to condemn those who do nothing at such moments” (para. 14). Do you agree with his conclusion? Why or why not?

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WRITING ARGUMENTS: UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DO BYSTANDERS HAVE AN ETHICAL OBLIGATION TO INTERVENE?

According to Skenazy, the public has passed a turning point, becoming “convinced that it not only had an obligation to help anyone in danger” but also had “the obligation to call the cops anytime it noticed people who could be in danger” (para. 4). In contrast, Nocera suggests that powerful social forces discourage people from helping those in danger. Using these two selections as sources, write an essay offering your own view of the ethical obligations of bystanders. (You might begin by considering fundamental differences between Skenazy’s and Nocera’s arguments.)