Kitty Genovese Case Study

As society becomes increasingly more aware of the decline of the environment, it is the responsibility of the inhabitants of this Earth to both rid of further damage as well as improve the current standing of the land. More specifically, engineers must be mindful of the Earth and it’s condition as their job relates directly a great deal of the time to the environment. Civil engineers, in particular, are hands on with the environment as they are constantly dealing with the land and constructing structures that might have an affect on the surroundings. Engineers must consider a wide variety of factors while doing their job. For example, engineers cannot simply be concerned with the easiest design or a lower cost when they need to be aware of

The analogy of the case of Kitty Genovese is utilized, where this young woman was stabbed to death in Queens, just outside of her apartment. Sixty eight witnesses were present, none of whom picked up the phone to dial for emergency, let alone intervene in the situation. It is evident the neighbors watching the situation had a moral obligation of taking action, however, when is it their obligation to do so? The three authors generalized four conditions that must be met. These include a critical need, proximity, ability to help, and absences of other sources to help (McFarland, 1). Now generalizing this example to the engineering field, if an engineer finds that any fundamental right of either humans of the community is being harmed, then that engineer has the duty to whistle blow in order to bring attention to this issue, even if this means the professional might be risking their job. The second criteria, proximity, relates with a “network of social relations that follow from notions of civic duty, duty to one’s family, and so on.” (McFarland, 2) The third factor is the ability to help, however, McFarland states that if you may harm yourself in the act of whistle blowing, then it is not worth risking two people’s health. Nevertheless, McFarland’s point does not provide the moral obligation that an engineer should carry with them at all times. An engineer will always be responsible for both the well being of people and the community. If the engineer finds that something could be harmful, it is his or her duty to act upon it and whistle blow. The final condition that McFarland outlines is the absence of other sources to help. In the case of Kitty Genovese, there were almost seventy witnesses who did have the ability to help however they passed the responsibility to their neighbor, and consequently no one took action. This idea might also be invalid because of the