I just watched a fascinating documentary on Channel 4 On Demand. Would you save a stranger? An hour long documentary recounting the stories of people who have been victim to violence, and those who have watched others being subject to violence and their consequent response.
In a week that has seen a local man randomly stabbed to death just round the corner from my home here in Manchester this documentary raises realistic and timely questions about the way in which we both as individuals and a society address violence when exposed to it in this often shocking and brutal way.
Very often we read in the media about somebody taking a beating or even being killed. Yet we can distance oursleves from it and, very often we cannot envisage or may not even consider what our own reaction would be in that situation.
For most of us, the violence that we encounter comes through a televsion screen. A re-enactment, actors working through a sequence, jerky black and white CCTV images. By now we are used to seeing this kind of content on a regular basis. However, for those unfortunate enough to encounter this king of violence in real life, our reaction is often exactly the same as the one we provide from the couch when watching TV. We sit still and we gawp.
When I lived in North East London, I read an article in the Guardian written by a woman who had been on a bus in Islington when another passenger was stabbed on his way home from work. On a bus full of people, she was the only one who went to his aid. As he died in her arms, she asked another passenger for his coat so she could wrap it around the victim because he was shivvering. He said no because he didnt want to get blood on it. No one offered any support even after the attack was over and the attacker was long gone.
As far as I can tell there are two reasons why someone would not go to the aid of someone in immediate distress:
1. They have a serious concern for their own safety
2. They believe someone else will - or is already - dealing with the problem
I think it is entirely reasonable that a lone female should not try to tackle ten men beating someone up. She should certainly try and get someone's attention and call the police. However, for a bus full of grown men to sit and watch a 13 year old girl get her head stamped on is pitiful, and to watch this documentary was at times totally infuriating.
Similarly, there were two men featured on the programme who had gone to the aid of an attack victim. One died of a stab wound to the heart and another was stabbed five times but survived. The beauty of this documentary was that it was objective. It didnt judge those who did or did not intervene, and it highlighted the contradictory elements of the "Should I?, Shouldn't I?" question.
I once taught a man in prison who had stamped on someones head until they were dead. I asked him why he kept going, why he didn't stop. He said if only someone had pulled him away he knows he would have left the man alone. He infact blamed the lack of action of others for the mans death.
Would I help a stranger? Yes, I think I would, because I would look to others for help if I found myself in a situation where I could no longer defend myself.
