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12 - Actively Caring to Prevent Alcohol Abuse

from INTRODUCTION TO PART II - APPLICATIONS OF AC4P PRINCIPLES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2016

E. Scott Geller
By
Ryan C. Smith  and
E. Scott Geller
E. Scott Geller
Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Ryan C. Smith
Affiliation:
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
E. Scott Geller
Affiliation:
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
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Summary

Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity.

– Sammy Davis, Jr.

Makayla Greathouse, a Virginia Tech student in Professor Scott Geller's senior seminar on self-motivation in 2012, told this story:

Danny Gilliam lived right above my apartment. We spent a lot of time hanging out. One Saturday night, Danny and his roommates were about to leave for a party. We shared several minutes of conversation and laughs, and they went on their way.

Around 2:30 a.m. I saw a good friend crying outside of my apartment and immediately approached her to see what was wrong. The news knocked me off my feet. Danny Gilliam was dead.

It took me days to process what happened. I watched his family move out his belongings with tear-streaked faces. I watched his roommates go through denial, anger and depression. Losing a roommate – a best friend – is heartbreaking. The mood of our building was solemn. It would take months for life to return to a new reality.

Makayla's good friend Michael had been at Whipple Drive, where the incident happened. Michael reported:

I was at a friend's house and the party above us was huge, probably two hundred people. Suddenly everyone rushed out and we decided to see what had happened. We didn't see cop cars anywhere and when we asked the fleeing partiers what's going on, they just said, “Someone fell.” I went around the building, and saw a body on the ground. Someone had fallen from a balcony while trying to climb the roof. Three friends were there, all in hysterics. I told someone to call 911 and as a first responder, I began CPR and checked his vitals. The police soon arrived and performed CPR, as well. The guy didn't make it; we tried everything but it was too late.

Why did everyone flee the scene?

Makayla responded:

Many students who consume alcohol in college are underage; they are scared of getting caught. So many people were present; I'm sure many thought someone else would take care of Danny. Perhaps bystander apathy took place.

Proactive bystander intervention could have saved Danny's life that night. If someone had stopped him from climbing the balcony, he wouldn't have fallen. There are so many ways Danny could have been convinced to get down. …

Type
Chapter
Information
Applied Psychology
Actively Caring for People
 , pp. 396 - 419
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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