Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Encouraging responses in sexual and relationship violence prevention: What program effects remain 1 year later?
Journal Name
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Journal Volume
30
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
110-132
DOI
10.1177/0886260514532719
Summary
In order to prevent sexual and relationship violence, some colleges and universities have implemented bystander training programs. These programs train students to diffuse risky situations, identify and challenge perpetrators, and assist victims. The effectiveness of these programs on the long-term behaviors of bystanders is unknown. In this study, researchers used an experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of the Bringing in the Bystander in-person program.
Key Findings
Participants who received the in-person prevention program plus exposure to the social marketing campaign reported higher levels of bystander behavior one year post-program.
The program was more effective for participants who began the program with more awareness regarding sexual and relationship violence on college campuses.
The program did not appear to influence prosocial bystander behaviors of participants who had already encountered opportunities to help as bystanders prior to prevention programming.
Gender affected behavior for the program group but not the control group. Women were more likely to intervene in situations of sexual or relationship violence and more likely to intervene to help a stranger.
Implications for Military Professionals
Collaborate with organizations connected with Service members and their families on the importance participating in bystander prevention programs and high-risk settings for sexual and relationship violence
Facilitate support groups for Service members and/or their family members who have experienced sexual and relationship violence
Implications for Program Leaders
Disseminate information regarding prosocial bystander behaviors to Service members and their families
Engage Service members and their intimate partners in classes that increase prosocial bystander behaviors
Implications for Policy Makers
Promote the development of bystander prevention programs focused on decreasing sexual and relationship violence for Service members and their families
Continue to support programs that focus on the identification and prevention of sexual and relationship violence in military families
Methods
Participants were randomly assigned to either a control or program group after expressing interest in the bystander sexual and relationship prevention program.
All participants took a pretest (n=948) and 346 participants took a 12-month follow-up survey.
Measures included No-Awareness Subscale of the Readiness-to-Help Scale, Opportunity to Engage in Bystander Behaviors, Perceptions of Peer Helping, and the Bystander Behavior Scale.
Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the Bringing in the Bystander in-person program by analyzing differences between the control and program groups.
Participants
Participants were 948 first-year college students ages 18-24 recruited from two campuses in the northeastern United States.
The students were recruited on campus via flyers, class announcements, online bulletin boards, email announcements, and weekly meetings with resident advisors.
Approximately 47.8% of the students were women and 85.2% identified as White.
Limitations
The sample lacked in racial and ethnic diversity, thus lacking generalizability to other populations.
The study measured behaviors by asking "yes" and "no" questions, and this does not provide information regarding the frequency of engaging in bystander prevention behaviors.
The control group was exposed to prosocial bystander messages conducted by the college campuses prior to the beginning of the study, thereby reducing the validity of the findings.
Avenues for Future Research
Recruit a sample that includes more racial and ethnic diversity in order to increase generalizability
Use measures that assess the frequency of bystander behaviors (e.g., ask "how many times" the students engaged in these behaviors)
Conduct a study that includes a control group that has not been exposed to prevention messages in order to increase the validity of the findings
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
Colleges and universities are high-risk settings for sexual and relationship violence. To address these problems, institutions of higher education have implemented prevention programs, many of which train students as potential bystanders who can step in to help diffuse risky situations, identify and challenge perpetrators, and assist victims. The impact of bystander sexual and relationship violence prevention programs on long-term behavior of bystanders has remained a key unanswered question for those who seek to offer the most effective programs as well as for policy makers. In this study, the researchers experimentally evaluated the effectiveness of the Bringing in the Bystander® in-person program. Participants were 948 1st-year college students of whom 47.8% were women and 85.2% identified as White (15% also identified as Hispanic in a separate question) between the ages of 18 and 24 at two universities (one a rural, primarily residential campus and the other an urban, highly commuter campus) in the northeastern United States. To date, this is the first study to have found positive behavior changes as long-lasting as 1 year following an educational workshop focusing on engaging bystanders in preventing sexual and relationship violence. Even so, many questions remain to be answered about prevention and intervention of this type. More prospective research is needed on bystander-focused prevention of these forms of violence to help understand and better predict the complicated relationships both between and among the attitudes and behaviors related to preventing sexual and relationship violence. In this regard, we make specific recommendations for designing and evaluating programs based on our findings relating to the importance of moderators, especially two key understudied ones, readiness to help and opportunity to intervene.
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