Does Who You Know Affect How You Act? The Impact of Relationships on Bystander Intervention in Interpersonal Violence Situations

Bystander Intervention in Coercive Control: Do Relationship to the Victim, Bystander Gender, and Concerns Influence Willingness to Intervene?

With rates of coercive control (CC) increasing, there is a need to ensure that intervention programs are underpinned by evidence-based research. Current interventions are scarce, with their efficacy rarely established. Most current interventions appear to rely on victims seeking support from formal sources/agencies, despite suggestions that victims are more likely to confide in people they know, such as their friends. Researchers suggest that a victim's friends may provide an effective source of support and intervention. The aim of this study was to fill the gap in the literature exploring whether the closeness of the relationship to the victim, bystander gender, and bystander concerns influenced attitudes toward intervening in CC situations. The study used an experimental design, whereby participants were randomly allocated to read a vignette depicting a CC scenario involving a friend, colleague, or stranger, and quantitative methods were used to examine bystanders' willingness and concerns about intervening. The sample was 340 Australian participants (229 female, 111 male), recruited from social media, namely community Facebook groups. The results indicated that friends were significantly more willing to intervene than colleagues or strangers, while strangers reported the highest concerns about intervening. Females reported significantly higher willingness to intervene than men despite also reporting higher concerns. Exploratory analysis of concerns about intervening revealed that the participants were most concerned about risk of harm and their beliefs in their ability to successfully intervene. These findings have implications for bystander intervention programs and campaigns, including offering a range of potential directions to enhance intervention program content.

Why Do Bystanders Report Intimate Partner Violence? Insights into Real-Life Reasoning from Those Who Actually Intervened

As intimate partner violence (IPV) often remains unknown to police, bystanders can play a crucial role in prevention and further escalation of IPV. However, little is known about what brings them into action by reporting incidents of IPV to authorities. As such, we use statements of bystanders who filed reports about IPV incidents to an official domestic violence agency in the Netherlands (N = 78), to investigate the reasoning and motivations for reporting their suspicions. Results show that the reasons for bystanders to report IPV differ depending on the relational dynamics between partners. In situations perceived as intimate terrorism, involving a hierarchical abusive relationship between a man offender and a woman victim, bystanders primarily reported when previous helping initiatives proved inefficient, and they did so to prevent further harm, often particularly in relation to the woman victim. In situations perceived as situational couple violence, involving a symmetrical abusive relationship, bystanders primarily reported when escalation appeared, and they did so to prevent further harm to involved children. We conclude that bystanders report IPV incidents when the need for help is clear, and their motivation for acting concerns the well-being of victims. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence about real-life bystander intervention in emergencies and highlight the need for understanding intervention as context-specific in order to design effective intervention initiatives.

Observing heroic behavior and its influencing factors in immersive virtual environments

Studying heroism in controlled settings presents challenges and ethical controversies due to its association with physical risk. Leveraging virtual reality (VR) technology, we conducted a three-study series with 397 participants from China to investigate heroic actions. Participants unexpectedly witnessed a criminal event in a simulated scenario, allowing observation of their tendency to physically intercept a thief. We examined situational factors (voluntariness, authority, and risk) and personal variables [gender, impulsivity, empathy, and social value orientation (SVO)] that may influence heroism. Also, the potential association between heroism and social conformity was explored. In terms of situational variables, voluntariness modulated participants' tendency to intercept the escaping thief, while perceived risk demonstrated its impact by interacting with gender. That is, in study 3 where the perceived risk was expected to be higher (as supported by an online study 5), males exhibited a greater inclination toward heroic behavior compared to females. Regarding other personal variables, the tendency to engage in heroic behavior decreased as empathy levels rose among males, whereas the opposite trend was observed for females. SVO influenced heroic behavior but without a gender interaction. Finally, an inverse relationship between heroism and social conformity was observed. The robustness of these findings was partly supported by the Chinese sample (but not the international sample) of an online study 4 that provided written descriptions of VR scenarios, indicating cultural variations. These results advance insights into motivational factors influencing heroism in the context of restoring order and highlight the power of VR technology in examining social psychological hypotheses beyond ethical constraints.

Bystander Intervention in Coercive Control: Do Ethnic Identity and Acceptance of Coercive Control Influence Willingness to Intervene?

Previous intimate partner violence research and social psychological theory have highlighted that ethnicity and level of harm are both factors that have the potential to influence bystander willingness to intervene in, as well as the acceptance of intimate partner violence between couples. Little research has been conducted on the general willingness of bystanders to intervene in, or the level of acceptance of coercive control. This is the first study to explore whether the likelihood of bystander willingness to intervene is influenced by participant gender, the ethnicity of the couple involved in a hypothetical scenario of coercive control, and by differing levels of abusive behavior. In this study, we also explored the influence of participants' acceptance of coercive control. A semi-experimental design was used, utilizing an online community sample sourced through social media of 346 adult participants across Australia. The participants were randomly allocated to read a fictional coercive control scenario detailing either low or high harm instances of coercive control. Within the online survey the ethnicity of the couple was manipulated with participants' randomly allocated to read a scenario about a couple with the same ethnicity as them (Australian of British or European descent) or a couple with Indian Australian ethnicity. The results showed the participants were significantly more willing to intervene in the coercive control scenario when the couple shared the same ethnicity as them. In response to the low harm scenarios, participants were significantly more accepting of coercive control if the couple were Indian Australian. However, males responding to high harm scenarios were more accepting of coercive control if the couple shared the same ethnic identity as them. The implications from these findings for theory and future bystander intervention programs are discussed.

But Someone Was Right There: An Examination of How Third-Party Presence Is Associated With Rape and Sexual Assault Victim Help-Seeking Behavior and Reports to Police

This research evaluates whether third-party presence is associated with rape and sexual assault (RSA) victims help-seeking and reporting to police, addressing a gap in the literature about how the presence of a third-party is associated with victim behavior. This research uses secondary data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Findings indicate that third-party presence has no statistically significant association with help-seeking and marginal significance with police reporting. This research focuses on third-party presence as a precursor to understanding victim help-seeking behaviors and reports to police. This research raises questions about the expected role of third parties in RSA victimizations.

A Systematic Review Exploring Variables Related to Bystander Intervention in Sexual Violence Contexts

This article presents a systematic review of the available literature which has investigated the role of key variables in facilitating or inhibiting bystander intervention (including direct intervention, tertiary and secondary prevention) in sexual violence (SV) contexts. Studies exploring the role of individual, situational and contextual variables were grouped to provide a narrative overview of bystanders' personal characteristics as well as the immediate and wider contexts which may be influencing their bystander behaviour. A systematic search of published literature from four electronic databases identified 2526 articles that were screened, of which 85 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies focused upon the role of individual variables, in particular gender of bystander. This body of work finds females are more likely to intervene than males; however, not all studies report these differences and in some cases, this is influenced by the type of intervention behaviour being considered. Regarding situational variables, the most commonly researched variable was the presence of other bystanders, although the role of this variable as inhibiting or facilitating was not clear. Finally, the most commonly researched contextual variable was social norms towards intervention, which has consistently shown greater bystander intervention when there is a belief that peers support such behaviour. Very few studies considered the interaction between these variables. Therefore, it is important for future research to consider this gap in the literature so that we can obtain a more well-rounded understanding of variables that can inhibit and facilitate bystander intervention in SV contexts.

Bystander Intervention in Intimate Partner Violence: An Audio Vignette Study of Heterosexual, Gay, and Lesbian Dating Partners

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prolific and growing issue that can have long-lasting negative consequences for the health and safety of those involved. Bystander intervention is one method for helping to combat incidents of IPV, as research suggests that bystanders are frequently present at the scene of assaults and incidents of IPV. This study explored individual differences of bystanders that may influence whether they decide to intervene in an unfolding incident of IPV, as well as how the likelihood of intervening may vary as a function of the apparent gender or sexual orientation of the individuals involved in an incident of IPV. Participants were recruited from an online survey platform to obtain a balanced sample of heterosexual and sexual minority individuals. Participants completed a bystander task where they listened to an audio vignette of an unfolding IPV incident and were instructed to stop the audio if/when they would intervene in a real-life context. Participants were randomly assigned to listen to one of four versions of the vignette in which the apparent gender of the aggressor and victim were manipulated. Results revealed participants were more likely to intervene if they identified as a sexual minority (vs. as a heterosexual), reported less rape myth acceptance, or had greater endorsement of gender equality. Results also revealed that associations between bystander characteristics and intervening behavior largely did not differ across vignette conditions, suggesting that they may influence the likelihood of intervening consistently across incidents of IPV regardless of the apparent gender and sexual orientation of the aggressor and victim. However, participants in general were most likely to intervene in the male aggressor/female victim vignette. Implications for IPV prevention programming-including the need to include more diverse and less heteronormative depictions of IPV-are discussed.

Bystanders of intimate partner violence against women and their willingness to intervene: An analysis of secondary data in Spain (2005–2020)

Recent decades have seen a growing acknowledgement of violence against women (VAW) as a serious social and public health problem of epidemic proportions. The prevention of VAW and intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) has become a priority within this context, and includes various prevention strategies such as social participation and helping behaviors. In different countries, conducting research on help-seeking behavior and bystander intervention in cases of VAW is a common practice, but addressing these issues is much less common in Spain. In this context, the objective of this study is to provide a preliminary estimation of the volume of bystanders in cases of IPVAW in Spain between 2005 and 2020 (since the entry into force of Organic Law 1/2004), their willingness to intervene and, in the case of intervention, the type of helping behavior (real or hypothetical) preferred, using the sources (secondary data) available (specifically, survey data, as the surveys of social perception of gender violence and the 2014 and 2019 macro-surveys, and also administrative data, as the database of reports filed). The data analyzed allow us to determine that, in fact, in the cases of IPVAW there are usually persons within the victim’s inner circle who are firsthand witnesses or have been informed by the victim of the existence of this type of violence, but, although the bystanders generally claim they would engage in an active and supportive response, this is in fact not always the case. These results underscore the need to develop intervention programs aimed at IPVAW bystanders to improve their reaction and contribute to the development of helpful and efficient active responses.

Barriers to Bystander Interventions for Sexual Assault: Impact of Personal History of Sexual Victimization

Bystander intervention programs have consistently demonstrated a positive change in communitywide norms regarding sexual assault. However, much of the extant research is limited by the failure to measure the prevalence of opportunities to intervene relative to actual intervention behavior and the failure to examine how bystander behaviors may be affected by a personal history of sexual victimization. The current study aims to determine the relationship between a bystander's previous history of sexual victimization, perceived barriers to intervention, observed opportunities to intervene, and actual intervention behavior in a range of high-risk, low-risk, and post-assault bystander opportunities in undergraduate students. Male and female undergraduate students (N = 591) completed retrospective measures of their opportunities for and intervention in a range of bystander behaviors and perceived barriers to intervention. They also reported on their personal history of sexual victimization. The results indicated that those with a history of sexual victimization tended to perceive greater barriers to intervention than those without such history. Notably, individuals with a victimization history reported that they were less likely to notice a risky situation and to identify the situation as dangerous. However, noticing or intervening did not vary across different types of bystander intervention situations. In terms of gender differences, although men reported perceiving greater barriers due to the diffusion of responsibility and fewer barriers related to audience inhibition and skill deficits when compared to women, there were no significant gender differences in intervention behavior. Data were situated within current empirical and theoretical models of sexual and intimate partner violence, and implications of these findings for bystander intervention programs and directions for future research are discussed.

None of My Business? An Experiment Analyzing Willingness to Formally Report Incidents of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

Although data show that intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a concealed phenomenon that is severely underreported, studies examining willingness to report episodes of IPVAW are limited. To contribute to this field of research, a factorial survey experiment was implemented in which each respondent (N = 1,007) received a unique vignette describing a hypothetical case of IPVAW. Slightly over one in four respondents (28.1%) indicated that they would report the aggression. It was also found that willingness to report was influenced by both the characteristics of the vignettes and certain personal ones of the respondents. Practical implications are proposed that may contribute to preventing IPVAW.

Bystander Intervention Behavior as Function of Victimization History, Opportunity, and Situational Context

Preliminary research has demonstrated the utility of bystander interventions in reducing sexual assault, and initial research has begun extending this type of intervention to intimate partner violence more broadly. However, the extant research is limited by methodological issues that fail to examine opportunity for intervention relative to intervention behaviors as well as a failure to examine intervention rates across differing risk situations. Further, there are many unexplored factors that may impact bystander intervention behavior, notably previous experiences with intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Thus, the current study examined bystander opportunities and intervention across situations of varying risk to the bystander, as well as the relationship of opportunity/intervention relative to victimization history. Given the rates of sexual assault and IPV on college and university campuses, the research examined the number of times college students (N = 393) encountered a range of situations in which bystander intervention may be indicated, and their intervention behavior across varying risk levels to the bystander. Results demonstrated that individuals with a history of psychological victimization were more likely to intervene across all situation types, but sexual and physical victimization provided mixed support for hypotheses. No differences in witnessing or intervening were found as a function of gender. These results replicate previous findings, and further provide evidence for a more nuanced approach to examine bystander behavior intervention. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Help-Seeking Behaviors for Intimate Partner Violence Among College Students: Implications for Intimate Partner Violence Prevention and Intervention

This study applied Andersen's Model of Health Service Use to examine help-seeking behaviors for intimate partner violence (IPV) and predisposing, enabling, and need factors for help-seeking among college students. The sample (N = 2,719) consisted of those who experienced IPV and was recruited from six universities in the United States and one university in Canada through an online survey. Results showed that 45.4% of the sample had sought some form of help for IPV. The most utilized source of formal help was from medical services, and friends were the number one source of informal help. Gender, age, sexual orientation (predisposing factors), IPV training (enabling factor), experiencing psychological and technological violence, and IPV consequences (need factors) were associated with seeking help. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Bystander Responses to Intimate Partner Misconduct: Barriers to Responding to Physical and Sexual Violations

All forms of unchecked acts of violence against women may harm individual women while also normalizing the ways in which women are routinely violated. Violence against women manifests across a continuum of linked behaviors, yet few studies have investigated bystander responses to less extreme forms of intimate partner violence. We examined bystander responses to different forms of misconduct: physical (grabbing and imminent slapping) or sexual (groping and unwanted kissing). Undergraduates (N = 402) read and responded to dating conflict scenarios in which they witnessed a young man verbally insult a young woman while perpetrating either sexual or physical misconduct. Across conditions, 42% of participants described misconduct as abusive, although this was significantly more common among those assigned to the physical (52%) than sexual (32%) conditions. Compared with those in the sexual misconduct condition, participants in the physical misconduct condition reported greater intent to directly intervene. Furthermore, participants in the physical misconduct condition also reported more barriers to intervention, including less awareness/attention to misconduct, less perceived danger to the victim, and less personal responsibility to intervene. In multivariate analyses, less awareness/attention to misconduct and less personal responsibility uniquely predicted lower intent to intervene; these same barriers also explained the tendency for bystanders to report lower intent to intervene in response to sexual than physical misconduct. These results suggest the need for education to promote awareness of the continuum of violence against women. Education also is needed to increase feelings of personal responsibility to challenge the normalization of less extreme violent acts.

Self-Control, Opportunity, and College Students' Bystander Intervention in Sexually Coercive Situations

This study examines students' bystander intervention opportunities and behaviors using survey data from a convenience sample of 226 college students from a university in the United States. We approach this study with theoretical concepts from the criminological literature on positive peer influence, self-control theories, and social control theories. Bivariate correlations and logistic analysis reveal, contrary to our predictions, that social and self-control have only minor predictive power on the likelihood of witnessing and intervening in sexually coercive events. However, we find strong support for some demographic characteristics, peer relationships, and behavioral characteristics (such as binge drinking) as predictive of witnessing a sexually coercive event and intervening in an event. Our study adds to the literature on bystander intervention behavior and aims to inform bystander intervention programming efforts by identifying student populations that are more likely to have the opportunity to intervene in sexually coercive situations and sexual assaults.

"A Person I Cared About Was Involved": Exploring Bystander Motivation to Help in Incidents of Potential Sexual Assault and Dating Violence

The purpose of the present study was to examine what motivates college students to put themselves in harm's way and help their peers in risky situations involving sexual assault and dating violence. College students reported on the frequency of witnessing a wide range of potentially dangerous incidents, whether or not they intervened, why they chose to intervene, what their relationship was to the victim, and reactions to their intervention. A sample of 182 (59.5% female) college students (M_age = 19.3 years) participated. We coded and analyzed narrative responses to the question regarding what influenced their decision to get involved. For female students, relationship to the victim, and, for males, the severity of the situation, were key motivational factors for bystander involvement. Some students reported positive feelings while others reported negative feelings directly related to their involvement. Tapping into the motivations underlying college students' helping behavior will be particularly informative for those designing and implementing bystander intervention programs on college campuses. A better understanding of bystander behavior will not only improve bystander intervention programs but it will also put students in the best position to make informed and responsible choices when faced with a difficult situation.

Who Are You to Me? Relational Distance to Victims and Perpetrators Affects Advising to Report Rape

The victim's decision to report a crime is generally dependent on the advice received from a confidant. The effects of a confidant's relationship to victims and perpetrators on the advice given to report rape were investigated. Indian participants (N = 418) read one of the seven scenarios of acquaintance rape as a confidant; the scenarios depicted different relationships between the victim and perpetrator (family vs. friend vs. stranger). Confidants closer to victims were more likely to advise reporting, whereas confidants closer to the perpetrator were less likely to advise reporting. Rape myth acceptance and victim blaming negatively predicted reporting to agencies.

Alcohol's Effects on Bystander Intervention Strategies to Prevent Sexual Assault

Alcohol's effects on bystander responses to potential sexual assault situations are understudied. In this mixed-methods study, we examined quality of bystander responses in intoxicated versus sober people. Participants were 121 young adults (ages 21-29, 50% female) randomly assigned to consume alcoholic beverages or soda water. After drinking, participants listened to a sexual assault vignette and completed a semistructured interview assessing how they would respond if they had witnessed the situation. Nearly all participants reported they would directly intervene if faced with the situation. Intoxicated participants and men were significantly less likely to use high-quality bystander intervention strategies than were sober participants and women. Results suggest that alcohol intoxication may negatively impact the likelihood that bystander intervention efforts will be helpful.

Violence Next Door: The Influence of Friendship With Perpetrators on Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent problem worldwide. Friends of perpetrators may be in a unique position to support or affect change. However, little is known about the influence of friendship with a perpetrator on responses to IPV. Social identity theory describes an ingroup bias whereby ingroup perpetrators of violence are viewed as less personally responsible than outgroup perpetrators. This bias has been consistently found for impersonal ingroup relationships, but there is limited research in relation to friends of perpetrators. Drawing on social psychological theories, this study aimed to explore the impact of friendship with a perpetrator on responses to IPV-specifically, on attributions of causality and social rejection. A fictional vignette depicting IPV perpetrated by either a friend or a stranger was presented to 174 university students, who then completed a questionnaire on attributions and social rejection. Results indicated that participants attributed high blame to the perpetrator regardless of their relationship, but friends of the perpetrator were significantly more likely than strangers to attribute the cause of the violence to external factors. Friends of perpetrators were likely to continue the friendship, though social rejection was significantly more likely when the perpetrator was attributed high blame and internal causality. Ingroup bias was not consistently present across all outcomes, demonstrating the complexity of social relationships and IPV. The findings suggest expectancy based on past behavior may influence attributions for violence in existing relationships. The combination of high blame, external attributions, and low social rejection was discussed in relation to opportunities for friends to intervene to prevent IPV. The multifaceted influence of friendship on responses to IPV perpetration suggests the need to consider relationship factors when designing violence prevention campaigns and bystander intervention programs.

Who, When, How, and Why Bystanders Intervene in Physical and Psychological Teen Dating Violence

Teen dating violence victimization is associated with a host of adverse mental and physical health problems. A number of bystander-focused interventions have been developed to mitigate the occurrence of abuse but with varying effectiveness. There remains a need to understand more about bystander behaviors used by adolescents to ensure that existing intervention components match with bystanders' attitudes and behaviors about intervening. The current study is a scoping review of existing literature on adolescents' use of bystander behaviors to determine who, when, how, and why adolescents intervene. Seventeen articles met inclusion criteria, the majority of which used qualitative or observational survey designs. Adolescents who either feel a sense of responsibility and confidence to intervene or are directly involved with or know the individuals involved in the dating violence are more likely to intervene. Adolescents intervene when they are able to define an act as dating violence and tend to intervene when the victim is female and when they have a supportive relationship with at least one teacher in their school. The various ways how bystander intervention is engaged in ranges from verbally or physically confronting the abuser, distracting the abuser, seeking support from an adult, to passively accepting the abuse. Reasons why adolescents intervene include believing the abuse is wrong and that intervening will diffuse the situation and help the victim. A number of barriers to bystander intervention emerged from analysis including individual attitudes and school climate factors. Implications for strengthening bystander intervention programs are discussed.

Beyond Yes or No: Understanding Undergraduate Students' Responses as Bystanders to Sexual Assault Risk Situations

The White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault recommends bystander engagement programming as part of campus sexual assault prevention efforts. Measuring students' bystander behavior, and thus, assessing the effectiveness of such programming, is a challenging endeavor due to the range of risk situations students may witness, as well as the nuances in potential barriers students may face in these situations. Currently, many studies include dichotomous measures of bystander behavior without gathering further information about students' opportunities to intervene, barriers to intervening, and intervention strategies. The current study sought to implement a more comprehensive approach to understanding the types of sexual assault risk situations students report to witness, as well as their response in those situations, reasons for not intervening, and any gender differences therein. In 2014, undergraduate students (n = 9,358) at a large, public university in the Northeast completed a web-based survey to assess bystander opportunities and responses for six different risk situations. Results show that prosocial bystander responses varied depending on the risk situation. Of those students with opportunities to intervene, noninterveners reported the situation was "none of their business" or that they were "unsure of what to do." Interveners reported to have either "confronted the situation directly" or "went and got assistance." We also observed significant gender differences in students' reported intervention opportunities and bystander responses. The findings of this study have several important implications for bystander engagement programming and future research.

Bystander Interventions on Behalf of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence Victims

Using newly available U.S. nationally representative data from the No More study (N = 1,307), this article investigates (a) knowledge of sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV) victims within one's social network; (b) who intervenes, whom they intervene on behalf of, and how they intervene; and (c) the perceived barriers to intervening in IPV specifically. The findings reveal that knowledge of violence, the likelihood of intervening, and the intervention approaches taken all vary demographically and by violence type. Among respondents who have known a victim, one- third report having intervened for sexual assault, while one-half report having intervened for IPV. For both types of violence, respondents are more likely to have intervened on behalf of family or friends than on behalf of more distant network members. However, respondents are more likely to have solicited the help of authorities and less likely to have offered safe haven in instances of sexual assault than in instances of IPV. The most commonly cited barriers to IPV intervention include fear of injury, fear of misinterpretation, and belief that IPV is a private matter, though these vary across demographic groups. These findings indicate that the decision to intervene is highly contextual-contingent on the individual characteristics of the intervener, situational characteristics of the violence, and the relationship between the intervener and the victim.

Bystander Program Effectiveness to Reduce Violence Acceptance: RCT in High Schools

Bystander-based violence prevention interventions have shown efficacy to reduce dating violence and sexual violence acceptance at the individual level yet no large randomized controlled trial (RCT) has evaluated this effect at the high-school level and over time. This rigorous cluster-randomized controlled trial addresses this gap by evaluating intervention effectiveness at both school and individual levels. Kentucky high schools were randomized to intervention or control conditions. In intervention schools educators provided school-wide 'Green Dot' presentations and bystander training with student popular opinion leaders. Each spring from 2010 to 2014; 73,044 students completed anonymous surveys with no missing data on relevant outcomes. Dating violence and sexual violence acceptance were the primary outcomes for this analysis. At the school level, slopes from linear mixed models using averaged school-level dating violence acceptance (condition-time, p < 0.001) and sexual violence acceptance (condition-time interaction, p < 0.001) differed indicating a significant reduction in the violence acceptance in the intervention relative to control schools over time and specifically in years 3 and 4 when 'Green Dot' was fully implemented. Analyses based on student's self-reported receipt of 'Green Dot' training by condition confirmed the school level finding of significant reductions in both dating violence and sexual violence acceptance in years 3 and 4 for both males and females. In this RCT we find evidence that the bystander-based violence prevention intervention 'Green Dot' works, as hypothesized and as implemented, to reduce acceptance of dating violence and sexual violence at the school and individual levels.

Bystander Programs: Accommodating or Derailing Sexism?

Bystander programs implemented to meet federal requirements to reduce sexual assaults on college campuses in the United States must include primary prevention. Survey data (n = 280) and interview data (n = 20) presented in this paper explore students’ hypothetical and actual willingness to intervene as bystanders. Although most students surveyed (57%) claim they would be very likely to intervene, fewer than half would be very suspicious of someone leading away an intoxicated individual at a party (45% of women and 28% of men: p < 0.01). Interview data reveal how students perceive risk factors at college parties and what types of bystander measures they attempt, including “distractions”, a nonconfrontational tactic in which bystanders avoid more direct but socially risky interventions. Subsumed in many current bystander programs is an invisible element of valorizing harmony. Condoning bystanders’ unwillingness to directly confront seemingly predatory individuals could make change seem out of reach and could also embolden offenders whose behavior is observed and only temporarily thwarted.