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Case
1-3
NYC Subway Death: Bystander Effect or Moral
Blindness
On December 3, 2012, a terrible incident occurred in the New York City subway when Ki-Suck Han was pushed off a
subway platform by Naeem Davis. Han was hit and killed by the train, while observers did nothing other than snap photos on their
cell phones as Han was struggling to climb back onto the platform before the oncoming train struck him. Davis was arraigned on a
second-degree murder charge and held with- out bail in the death of Han.
One of the most controversial aspects of this story is that of R. Umar Abbasi, a freelance photographer for the New York
Post, who was waiting for a train when he said he saw a man approach Han at the Times Square station, get into an altercation
with him, and push him into the train’s path. He too chose to take pictures of the incident, and the next day, the Post published the
photographer’s handiwork: a photo of Han with his head turned toward the approaching train, his arms reaching up but unable to
climb off the tracks in time.
Abbasi told NBC’s Today show that he was trying to alert the motorman to what was going on by flashing his cam- era.
He said he was shocked that people nearer to the victim didn’t try to help in the 22 seconds before the train struck. “It took me
a second to figure out what was happening . . . I saw the lights in the distance. My mind was to alert the train,” Abbasi said. “The
people who were standing close to him . . . they could have moved and grabbed him and pulled him up. No one made an effort,”
he added.
In a written account Abbasi gave the Post, he said that a crowd took videos and snapped photos on their cell phones after
Han’s mangled body was pulled onto the platform. He said that he shoved the onlookers back while a doctor and another man
tried to resuscitate the victim, but Han died in front of them.
Some have attributed the lack of any attempt by those on the subway platform to get involved and go to Han’s aid as the
bystander effect. The term bystander effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people pres- ent, the less
likely people will be to help a person in distress. When an emergency situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if
there are few or no other witnesses. One explanation for the bystander effect is that each individ- ual thinks that others will come
to the aid of the threatened person. But when you are alone, either you will help, or no one will.
Questions
Video Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be27FoRbf5I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UkS8VfotU8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGaJrgi_SpE
1. Do you think the bystander effect was at work in the subway death incident? How might that effect translate to a
situation where members of a work group observe financial improprieties committed by one of their group that
threatens the organization? In general, do you think that someone would come forward? How might culture play into
the action that would be taken?
The bystander effect seems to be at work in the subway death. There were many observers; many were using their cell phone to
take pictures. It is possible that the bystanders did not recognize the situation as dire an emergency as it was or many thought
someone else would handle the situation or some may not have known what to do about the situation.
In a work situation a team member might observe a financial improprieties taking place. That team player may not realize the
effect of the financial improprieties (not recognize as an emergency), may be the low man on the totem pole, assume someone
else will speak up, may not know what to do or who to go to, and may feel he needs the job too much, or feel threatened to speak
up. Particularly the lower on the totem pole or job title the team member is, he may feel embarrassed to speak up in case he is
2. Another explanation for the inaction in the subway incident is a kind of moral blindness, where a person fails to
perceive the existence of moral issues in a particular situation. Do you believe moral blindness existed in the
incident? Be sure to address the specific moral issues that give rise to your answer.
Moral blindness may also describe someone who can’t tell right from wrong, rather than just choosing to ignore
doing the right thing. In the subway death, bystanders may not have recognized the emergency and the urgency of
