Toward the Next Generation of Bystander Prevention of Sexual and Relationship Violence ― Action Coils to Engage Communities

This briefs integrates and synthesizes an array of research about who helps others and under what conditions and discusses the implications of this research for a bystander intervention focused prevention agenda to reduce sexual and relationship violence in schools and communities. It combines an examination of bystander helping behavior in the specific context of sexual and relationship violence with social psychological research on bystander behavior outside that context in order to inform prevention efforts. This briefs is designed for researchers, practitioners, and students concerned about violence prevention and who are interesting in bystander intervention as a promising prevention strategy. Connections between research and practice are the foundation of this briefs.

The briefs addresses the following questions: What is the promise of a bystander approach to violence prevention? Where does it fit within the spectrum of sexual and relationship violence prevention? How do we expand theoretical models of helping behavior to the unique context of interpersonal violence? How can we bring in research from other areas of health behavior change and developmental research on violence to inform a broader bystander action model? It provides a new synthesis and model of bystander interaction. It outlines a strategic plan for new research and next steps in prevention practices.

Victoria L. Banyard, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Hampshire where she teaches courses on interpersonal violence, community and applied psychology, and applied research methods. She is a research and evaluation consultant with the Prevention Innovations Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Her doctoral degree is from the University of Michigan in clinical psychology and she has worked with survivors of violence as both a clinician and researcher. Her program of research focuses on interpersonal violence consequences and prevention with particular attention to the resilience of survivors and the strengths and capacity of communities to better prevent and respond to these problems. She developed widely used measures of bystander attitudes and behaviors and conducted federally funded evaluations of the effectiveness of bystander focused prevention programs for campus sexual assault. She has authored over 75 peer review articles, numerous book chapters and is an international expert on understanding bystander action to prevent interpersonal violence.