Rachel Manning

The kitty genovese murder and the social psychology of helping : The parable of the 38 witnesses

This article argues that an iconic event in the history of helping research -- the story of the 38 witnesses who remained inactive during the murder of Kitty Genovese -- is not supported by the available evidence. Using archive material, the authors show that there is no evidence for the presence of 38 witnesses, or that witnesses observed the murder, or that witnesses remained inactive. Drawing a distinction between the robust bystander research tradition and the story of the 38 witnesses, the authors explore the consequences of the story for the discipline of psychology. They argue that the story itself plays a key role in psychology textbooks. They also suggest that the story marks a new way of conceptualizing the dangers of immersion in social groups. Finally, they suggest that the story itself has become a modern parable, the telling of which has served to limit the scope of inquiry into emergency helping.

Social identity, group processes, and helping in emergencies

Using insights from a review of recent research on social identity approaches to helping, the Chapter sets out four key elements of a social identity approach to helping in emergencies: the salience of social identity, the boundaries of social identity, the contents of social identity, and the strategic interests of social identity. Evidence that illustrates the impact of social identity processes on group size and helping, which has traditionally focused on the inhibition of helping in the presence of others, is then reviewed. Finally, recent developments in the literature on intergroup emotions are considered, and their impact on a social identity approach to helping in emergencies is explored, highlighting the relatively neglected social identity relationship between bystanders and perpetrators. The review concludes by considering the current state of knowledge of a social identity approach to helping in emergencies, and identifies important questions that remain to be addressed.

'Oh my god, we're not doing nothing': young people's experiences of spatial regulation.

Social psychologists have become increasingly concerned with examining the ways in which social practices are interrelated with their location. Critical perspectives have highlighted the traditional lack of attention given to both the collective aspects of spatial identities, together with the discursive practices that construct the relationships between people and places. In this article, we draw together the developing discursive work on place with work on childrens geographies, in order to examine young peoples accounts of spatial regulation. Adopting a discursive approach to the analysis of focus group discussion, we illustrate a variety of concerns managed in relation to spatial practices by 41 young people living in a large city in the South of England. Our findings suggest that everyday use of public space by young people is constructed at a nexus of competing concerns around childhood/adulthood, freedom, and citizenship, and illustrate the dynamic nature of place, and its regulation, as a resource for constructing identities.

From Brigade to Service: An Examination of the Role of Fire and Rescue Services in Modern Local Government

Abstract Over the last ten years, local government modernisation and the growth of community safety agendas have called for change in the public sector at a local level. This has been typified by partnership work, improvement and inspection and community governance. The fire and rescue services, despite some initial cultural difficulties, haveworked hard to adapt themselves to modern local government, for example through community fire safety work, which is presented as a case study. However, the culmination of the modernisation project, Comprehensive Area Assessment, does not favour the fire and rescue service, and to an extent excludes them from its formula. In this light, it seems that there is little incentive for the Fire Service to continue its modernising trajectory.

Creating Spaces for Learning: Online Forums

Building on The Open University’s longstanding use of forums for teaching and learning, the chapter begins with a general consideration of their use, most notably acknowledging one of the core perceived ‘problems’ with forums: participation. The chapter then discusses the ‘structural’ and ‘functional’ concerns that are related to the use of forums as spaces for learning, using a series of case studies of forum design and use in order to illustrate how a concern with structure and function can facilitate productive forum use. The chapter moves on to highlight broad principles which hold true across different technologies and institutions. Before concluding with suggestions for colleagues engaging with forums, based on the preceding analysis.