Foster Child Bystander Effect

January 2000, there were approximately 520,000 children residing in the United States that were in the foster care system (Foster care, 1999). The video I chose was about Foster care cruelty, going on inside of a local restaurant. Moreover, Latané and Nida found that the bystander effect inclines to be stronger in cities than in rural areas (Merrens, 1973). Sometimes the people who are volunteering themselves to be a part of the foster system, are in it for the wrong reasons. Actors were hired to play foster child Caleb and foster mother Traci and her biological daughter Ava. The people who offer to adopt children out of the system our cheating the adoptive child of a meaningful life when they have a hidden agenda as to why. Caleb shows enthusiasm

Caleb the foster child is a young African-american male, Traci and Ava are Caucasian. A strong stereotype about the foster care system that I felt was present was that “Too often, people treat children in foster care like they did something wrong’” (Bissell & Geen, 2006, para. 21). It was depicted in the video on how Traci handled Caleb, he was disciplined more harsh than Ava, and made to seem as he was less than. Traci told Caleb during the recording that he was a bad influence on Ava, because he had mimicked a hand gesture at the table followed by claps that Ava had first shown him. Sounds like Caleb being made the “scapegoat”, or whipping boy if one asked me. One may ask why it was only five people who spoke up in a crowded restaurant, surely the meal conversation was not

Latane & Nida proposed a five-step psychological process in 1970 that attributed to bystander research. The process notes that the bystander needs to notice a critical situation, construe the situation as an emergency, develop a feeling of personal responsibility, believe that he/she has the skills necessary to succeed and reach a conscious decision to help. (Latane & Darley) This process is important because today we still have bystanders who do nothing to help the situation. If an individual is aware of this process can take in the act they are witnessing and stake their courageousness. Many attributes of the role playing can play an effect on a bystander such as the sex of participants, victim characteristics and danger/cost of intervention. Lisa Buckley says, “Adolescents value protecting friends from harm and report that they do intervene as bystanders in friends’ risky and dangerous behavior.” Lisa was trying to show the connection from an accident analysis & prevention source to the bystander effect. I am a teen who looks out for friends to be sure they do not engage or are part of risky behavior. Researchers stated in journal article published by the American Psychological Association that, people are more likely to intervene and help