Students Experiences as Bystander in Situations with Risk of Sexual and Relationship Violence

As sexual and relationship violence (SRV) continue to be serious issues on college campuses, many of these situations involve witnesses who have the ability to intervene. Bystander intervention trainings are increasingly being implemented on campuses to prevent SRV, yet there is limited information on students’ experiences as bystanders. A mid-sized university in Chicago, Illinois hosted workshops aimed to increase students’ basic knowledge and awareness of SRV and provide them skills to become active bystanders to prevent these issues within their campus community. As a part of the ongoing evaluation of this campus-based bystander intervention workshop, semi-structured qualitative interviews are being conducted with undergraduate students (13 completed, target same = 20) three months after they attended. During the interviews, students are asked about their bystander experiences in situations with risk of SRV. Qualitative analyses will be used to examine students’ bystander experiences since the workshop. Specifically, this poster will illustrate preliminary findings of 1) the types of SRV risk situations reported by student bystanders, 2) actions taken by students and their peers, and 3) situation outcomes. The results will provide insight into the types of SRV risk situations student bystanders encounter, with implications for future program design and implementation.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1066/thumbnail.jp