How do we know if it works? Measuring outcomes in bystander-focused abuse prevention on campuses.

Abstract

To address acknowledged limitations in the effectiveness of sexual and relationship abuse prevention strategies, practitioners have developed new tools that use a bystander framework. Evaluation of bystander-focused prevention requires measures, specific to the bystander approach, that assess changes over time in participants' attitudes and behaviors. Few measures exist and more psychometric analyses are needed. We present analyses to begin to establish the psychometric properties of four new measures of bystander outcomes and their subscales. Method: We collected data from 948 first-year college students on two campuses in the northeastern United States. Items assessing attitudes and behaviors related to bystander helping responses in college campus communities for situations where there is sexual or relationship abuse risk were factor analyzed. Results: Measures of readiness to help (assessed specifically with scales representing taking action, awareness, and taking responsibility), intent to be an active bystander, self-reported bystander responses, and perceptions of peer norms in support of action all showed adequate reliability and validity. Conclusion: This study represents a next step in the development of tools that can be used by researchers and practitioners seeking both to understand bystander behavior in the context of sexual and relationship abuse and to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention tools to address these problems. The measures investigated will be helpful for prevention educators and researchers evaluating the effectiveness of sexual and relationship abuse education tools that use a bystander intervention framework.

An Evaluation of Two Dating Violence Prevention Programs on a College Campus

“…The 32-question 5-point Likert-type scale BIH (Banyard, 2008;Banyard, Moynihan, Cares, & Warner, 2014) measures participants' likelihood or willingness to engage in various helping behaviors with 16 questions specific to helping friends and 16 questions specific to helping strangers. Scores range from 16 to 80 on both the Friends and Strangers subscales, with higher scores indicating more likelihood to engage in bystander behaviors.…”

Assessing Bystander Behavior Intentions Toward Friends to Prevent Dating Violence: Development of the Bystander Behavior Intentions-Friends Scale Through Concept Mapping and Exploratory Factor Analysis

“…These programs try to increase bystanders' prosocial behaviors and willingness to intervene in situations that could potentially result in harm (Banyard, 2008;Banyard, Cross, & Modecki, 2006;Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007;Cismaru et al, 2010;Coker et al, 2011;Gidycz, Orchowski, & Berkowitz, 2011;Lonsway et al, 2009;Lynch & Fleming, 2005;McMahon & Banyard, 2012;McMahon & Dick, 2011;Moynihan et al, 2010). Students are taught how they can do or say something before, during, or after the potentially violent behavior.…”

“…By helping individuals understand that every person has a role in the community to facilitate the prevention of such violence (Banyard et al, 2007), bystander interventions try to change social norms of peers' responsibility to have an active role in deterring negative behaviors, such as violence (Lonsway et al, 2009). These programs have a secondary aim to change attitudes, increase empathy toward victims, and increase knowledge of dating violence (Shorey et al, 2012).…”

“…These programs have a secondary aim to change attitudes, increase empathy toward victims, and increase knowledge of dating violence (Shorey et al, 2012). These roles as active bystanders can include situations that span the violence continuum, such as to intervene in situations prior to or during potentially violent situations, to say something when people do or say things supportive of dating violence (act against social norms supportive of dating violence), and support individuals who may have experienced dating violence (Banyard et al, 2007). Encouraging students to take an active role is often achieved through interventions that increase perceived self-efficacy to intervene as well as knowledge of how to intervene and ultimately change social norms (Lynch & Fleming, 2005).…”

“…Students are taught how they can do or say something before, during, or after the potentially violent behavior. Bystander interventions are a tool that have been used to combat sexual assault, and more recently, dating violence, by training individuals who witness a violent act or an act that could lead to future violence, to intervene in a safe manner to help prevent current or future violence (Banyard, 2008;Banyard et al, 2007;Moynihan et al, 2010;Shorey et al, 2012).…”