Safe Sisters: A Sorority‐Based Bystander Intervention Program to Prevent Sexual Assault

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-275
Author(s):  
Rachel P. Feldwisch ◽  
Susan C. Whiston ◽  
Isabella J. Arackal
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 999-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki L. Burns ◽  
Asia A. Eaton ◽  
Haiying Long ◽  
Dan Zapp

The current study explores the significance of race and gender on bystander attitudes before and after an online bystander intervention program to prevent sexual assault. A diverse sample of 750 college students participated in an online intervention and participants’ perceived bystander intervention ability and intent were assessed. The interaction of participant race and gender had a marginally significant impact on bystander ability and intent baseline scores. Furthermore, when analyzing gain scores from pre- to posttest, there was a significant race by gender interaction. Specifically, Latinx and Black men had higher preintervention scores, and White men had higher gains postintervention. Relevant cultural and social factors and directions for future research are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-413
Author(s):  
Denise A. Hines ◽  
Lia R. S. Bishop ◽  
Kathleen M. Palm Reed

Although sexual assault (SA) prevention programs on college campuses are increasingly prevalent, no studies explore the influence of program components on outcomes. Empathy exercises are frequently included in such programs, with the intent of changing participant emotions and attitudes in order to change subsequent behavior. This study evaluated whether the inclusion of an empathy exercise within a SA prevention program impacted participants' emotions and attitudes, and subsequent helping behaviors in SA bystander situations. Three-hundred and seventy students (63% women) participated in an evaluation of a mandatory bystander intervention program; half the students received the program containing an empathy exercise and half received the program that did not. For women only, participation in the program with the empathy exercise led to more negative emotions and fewer attitudes condoning SA, the latter of which influenced greater prosocial bystander behaviors 6 months later.


Author(s):  
Annelise Mennicke ◽  
Heather M. Bush ◽  
Candace J. Brancato ◽  
Ann L. Coker

AbstractYouth who witness parental intimate partner violence (IPV) are at increased risk of teen dating violence (DV). This analysis of secondary data investigated whether a bystander intervention program, Green Dot, was effective at reducing physical and psychological DV victimization and perpetration among youth who had and had not previously witnessed parental IPV. The parent RCT assigned 13 schools to control and 13 schools to the Green Dot intervention. Responses from 71,797 individual surveys that were completed by high school students were analyzed across three phases of a 5-year cluster randomized control trial. Multigroup path analyses revealed that students in intervention schools who witnessed parental IPV had a reduction in psychological (p < .001) and physical DV (p < .01) perpetration and psychological DV victimization (p < .01) in Phase 2 of the intervention, while those who did not witness parental IPV had a significant reduction in psychological DV victimization (p < .01). Individuals in the intervention received more training (p < .001), which was associated with lower levels of violence acceptance (p < .001). Violence acceptance was positively associated with DV victimization and perpetration (p < .001), especially for individuals who previously witnessed parental IPV. Green Dot is an effective program at reducing DV victimization and perpetration among the high-risk group of youth who previously witnessed parental IPV, largely operating through violence acceptance norms. This underscores the bystander intervention approach as both a targeted and universal prevention program.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kleinsasser ◽  
Ernest N. Jouriles ◽  
Renee McDonald ◽  
David Rosenfield

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1369-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay M. Orchowski ◽  
Nancy P. Barnett ◽  
Alan Berkowitz ◽  
Brian Borsari ◽  
Dan Oesterle ◽  
...  

Despite the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, few interventions aimed at decreasing college men’s proclivity to perpetrate sexual aggression have been developed and tested. This article details the theoretical framework, content, and piloting of a sexual assault prevention program for college men who engage in heavy drinking, a high-risk group who may be particularly well positioned to intervene as proactive bystanders in drinking environments. In an open trial, male facilitators delivered the three-session Sexual Assault and Alcohol Feedback and Education (SAFE) program to 25 heavy drinking college men. Session 1 was a 90-min review of personalized normative feedback regarding alcohol use, sexual activity, alcohol-related sexual consequences, understanding of consent, and engagement in bystander intervention, delivered individually in a motivational interviewing style. Session 2 was a 2½-hr group-based sexual assault prevention workshop focusing on social norms, empathy, masculinity, consent, and bystander intervention. Session 3 was a 90-min booster group session that reviewed previous topics and included the active practice of bystander intervention skills. Analyses of postsession assessments of utility, therapeutic alliance, and satisfaction and examination of alcohol use and sexual assault–related outcomes from baseline to the 2-month assessment support the preliminary feasibility and acceptability of the SAFE program.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-311
Author(s):  
Courtenay E. Cavanaugh

Teachers of psychology have been called to both educate college students about interpersonal violence (e.g., sexual assault) and use service learning. However, few models exist for how teachers may simultaneously address both of these calls. This article describes a service-learning course in psychology that integrated an evidence-based, bystander intervention program (BIP) into it in order to provide students with both sexual assault education and roles for advancing sexual assault prevention on campus. Sixteen students in an undergraduate psychology course watched TakeCare, a video shown to improve students’ positive bystander behavior to prevent sexual assault and then facilitated delivery of TakeCare to 156 other students on campus. This course illustrates a novel model for advancing sexual assault education and prevention on campus, and the model may be used in other psychology courses. Future directions for implementing and evaluating this model are described.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah McMahon ◽  
Samantha C. Winter ◽  
Jane E. Palmer ◽  
Judy L. Postmus ◽  
N. Andrew Peterson ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Xue ◽  
Wenzhao Zhang ◽  
Yaxi Zhao ◽  
Ran Hu ◽  
Bolun Zhang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND To provide participants with a more real and immersive intervening experience, virtual reality, and/or augmented reality technologies have been integrated into some bystander intervention training programs and studies measuring bystander behaviors. OBJECTIVE The study focuses on whether virtual reality and/or augmented reality can be used as a tool to enhance training bystanders. We review the evidence from empirical studies that use virtual reality (VR) and/or augmented reality (AR) as a tool for examining bystander behaviors in the domain of interpersonal violence research. METHODS Two librarians searched for articles in databases, including APA PsycInfo (Ovid), Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCO), Medline (Ovid), Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ProQuest), Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest), and Scopus till April 15, 2020. Studies focusing on bystander behaviors in conflict situations were included. All study types (except reviews) written in English in any disciplines were included. RESULTS The search resulted in 12,972 articles from six databases, and the articles were imported into Covidence. Eleven studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All 11 articles examined the use of VR as a tool for studying bystander behaviors. Most of the studies were conducted in US young adults. Types of interpersonal violence were school bullying, dating violence, sexual violence/assault, and soccer-associated violence. Virtual reality technology was used as an observational measure and bystander intervention program. We evaluate the different use of VR for bystander behaviors and a lack of empirical evidence of AR as a tool. We also discuss the empirical evidence regarding the design, effectiveness, and limitations of implementing VR as a tool in the reviewed studies. CONCLUSIONS Reviewed results have implications and recommendations for future research in designing and implementing VR/AR technology in the area. Future studies in this area may further contribute to the use of VR as an observational measure and explore the potential use of AR for the study of bystander behaviors.


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