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Bystander
Intervention
Programs
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How to Involve Men, Meet Federal
Requirements & Develop Strategies That Work
A White Paper from PaperClip Communications
Copyright 2014
PaperClip Communications
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Written and Edited by Julie Phillips
Designed by Amy Cunningham
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
Table of Contents
Throughout this comprehensive resource, you’ll find the following information:
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►► Strategies for developing a bystander intervention program
►► Who and what to include
►► Why bystander intervention is the gold standard and its background
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►► What the federal government requires us to do — a compliance primer
►► How to effectively involve male students
►► Tips for building capacity
►► Involving student leaders
►► Developing positive social norms
►► Partnerships and forums — from curriculum infusion to Greek Life, and beyond
►► Creating allies, not animosity
►► Involving faculty, staff and high-level administrators
►► Addressing issues of “problematic masculinity”
►► Helping students overcome fears and barriers to become effective bystanders
►► National and campus bystander programs to adapt to your own campus
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
Campus Best Practices
Social Spotting
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Bentley University (MA)
Be a Spotter
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At Bentley University (MA), “Be a Spotter” is their official bystander social marketing
campaign. It began with a social marketing post campaign about eight years ago, before bystander
education was really promoted on campuses, according to Jessica Greher Traue, the senior assistant
director, Wellness & Prevention within Bentley’s Center for Health and Wellness. “Our president had
actually requested a campaign that encouraged a community of caring,” she said. “We had always
brought in a speaker who talked to students about the importance of ‘social spotting’ and looking
out for friends. Because this message
resonated so well with our population and
“Social spotting is the act of looking out for
complemented the president’s request, we
your peers in order to prevent harm and seeking
started the ‘Be a Spotter’ campaign.”
immediate help in risky situations.”
Social spotting involves intervening
if a peer is making a decision that puts
his/her health or safety in danger. This can include dangerous drinking, homesickness, being upset,
disordered eating or exercising, not attending classes, drug use, sexual assault and more.
Spotters are encouraged to spot the person in need with supportive behaviors, both in the
moment and the next day, including removing them from a risky situation, suggesting less-risky
behaviors, using “I” statements with observable behaviors and more. It’s also suggested that they
seek help from others such as friends, passersby, trusted faculty or staff members, or campus police.
Traue said that within the first year of the “Be a Spotter” campaign, the incidence of students
seeking help in emergent situations increased by 35 percent.
Spot On Training
Two years later, when bystander education was being promoted as a sexual violence prevention
strategy, Bentley researched trainings and existing models before developing their own “Spot On”
training module, Traue said. It has been implemented with student groups since 2010, with a recent
emphasis on athletic teams and upcoming trainings being offered to Greek letter organizations.
The 90-minute training program is open to any group on campus, with a preference for groups
that have already have established a rapport. A team of seven facilitators works in two- to threeperson groups to present the training, trying to have mixed gender presenters, according to Traue. In
addition to herself, the Assistant Director of Gender Equity and Development, an Assistant Director
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
Campus Best Practices
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of Residential Life, a Residence Director, a Health Promotion Specialist and two Assistant Directors
of Athletics are involved.
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“After participating in the program, students feel more confident and competent in acting as
a pro-social bystander,” Traue said. “They are able to identify the personal or group barriers to
intervening as well as several ‘work arounds’
for those barriers. Our module contains an
opening exercise that frames the context in
Learning outcomes from the training include:
which bystander behavior is relevant for
♦♦ Students recognize different options and
students. We anonymously poll students
strategies for helping
to identify the behaviors of concern for
♦♦ Students acknowledge that peers want
their group and identify group norms that
to be helped and not to be afraid to take
support taking action as a bystander. We ask
action
students to identify reasons for helping, or not
♦♦ Students learn that people feel the way
helping.”
they do about risky situations
♦♦ Students understand that people notice
their actions, which shifts group norms
“We then provide some basic theoretical
framework for bystander behaviors,” Traue
♦♦ Students recall pieces of theory
continued. “Next we talk about the process of
taking action and the steps a bystander goes
through. Lastly, we present students with
different options for how to intervene and have them apply all of this information to a case study
exercise. Through the case study they identify multiple points and ways of intervention, which
highlights the ‘work arounds’ for any individual or group barriers.”
“Ultimately, it’s an interactive program that provides a safe space for students to talk about
relevant issues — issues they typically don’t speak with faculty or staff about,” Traue said.
More information is available at: www.bentley.edu/campus-life/health-and-fitness/
wellness-and-education/bystander-and-awareness-campaigns
See a copy of the latest “Be a Spotter” poster from Bentley University on the following page.
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
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Campus Best Practices
Reprinted with permission from Bentley University (MA)
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
Campus Best Practices
The 3Ds of Active Bystanders: Direct, Delegate & Distract
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University of Portland (OR)
At the University of Portland (OR),
preventing power-based violence (or
interpersonal violence) is the focus of their
Green Dot program. This takes several
different forms, including:
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“Power-Based Personal Violence (also
known as interpersonal violence) is a form of
violence primarily motivated by the assertion
of power, control, and/or intimidation in order
to harm another. This includes sexual violence,
relationship violence, stalking, harassment,
and other uses of force, threat, or intimidation
of an individual. It occurs when consent
is not mutually established. It can include
the use of alcohol or other drugs to commit
any of these acts. This form of violence
includes acts committed by strangers, friends,
acquaintances, intimates, or other persons.
• Students are encouraged to participate
in Green Dot Training, teach others
about Green Dots and share their
Green Dot stories about times when
they intervened as active bystanders
or proactively communicated that
violence isn’t okay.
We define violence prevention as a commu-
• Faculty and staff are encouraged
nity responsibility, recognizing that a culture of
to use the Green Dot Toolkit to
safety requires that each one of us — students,
focus on proactive and reactive
staff, faculty, and administrators — do our part.”
Green Dots in the classroom, such
Source: http://up.edu/cav/
as incorporating discussions about
power-based personal violence into
the curriculum. They’re also given
access to the Green Dot Media Kit using electronic media, such as adding a Green Dot to a
signature line or using a PowerPoint slide in a classroom presentation.
“An Army of Individual Choices”
“Violence prevention must mirror the problem of violence,” according to the University of
Portland’s Green Dot program. “In the same way that violence is a collection of individual choices
to do harm, we can make an army of individual choices to step in, to intervene, to say ‘no.’ Every
choice to intervene is a green dot. Any act or any statement that expresses an intolerance of violence
is yet another green dot.”
The University of Portland’s program is based on these 3Ds:
• Direct. “Maybe you feel comfortable handling a red dot situation directly. Maybe you can
tell your friend, ‘I think she’s too drunk to go upstairs with you’ or tell your roommate, ‘You
promised we’d stick together tonight.’”
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
Campus Best Practices
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• Delegate. “Maybe you are shy. Maybe you don’t want to look like a tool. Get someone to
intervene. Find her friends. Get his roommate. Get an RA. Make an anonymous call to Public
Safety. Talk to someone who can step in and help.”
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• Distract. “Create a diversion that interrupts a choice to do a red dot. Shout, ‘Hey, don’t you
want to play XBOX? We got Forza in here!’ Or, ‘Hey, your car is getting towed!’ Or throw
off your cardigan and just start break dancing.”
More information is available at: www.up.edu/greendot.
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
National Bystander Programs
Men Can Stop Rape
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A Primary Prevention Initiative
“Men Can Stop Rape’s mission is to mobilize men to use their strength for creating cultures free
from violence, especially men’s violence against women.”
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The group focuses on men’s role to “use their strength in positive ways in all of their
relationships” so they can help stop violence before it ever happens. This focus on what men can
do — instead of approaches that tell women how to reduce their risk of becoming victims of sexual
violence — “is grounded in the social ecological model, advocated by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) as a framework for the primary prevention of gender-based violence.”
What It Entails
Men Can Stop Rape has a primary bystander intervention program called Where Do You Stand?
It includes materials portraying young men role modeling specific intervention strategies — there
are posters, bus ads, billboards, banners, postcards, PSAs, floor and wall graphics, and more. A
Campaign Guide is also available.
Messages include:
• “5 Things You Can Do to Take a Stand”
• “When Nicole couldn’t lose that drunk guy, I called her cell to give her an out.”
• “When Karl kept harassing girls on the street, I said: ‘Stop being a jerk.’”
• “When Kate seemed too drunk to leave with Chris, I checked in with her.”
• “When Jason wouldn’t leave Mary alone, I said: ‘She’s not into you anymore. Let it go.’”
• “I’m the kind of guy who takes a stand… on my campus… with my friends…to prevent
sexual assault.”
Supportive Initiatives
In addition to the Where Do You Stand? program, Men Can Stop Rape also offers the following
initiatives…
The Campus Men of Strength (MOST) Club has eight college chapters throughout the
U.S. to engage college-age men in preventing violence against women, developing healthy
masculinity, engaging in activism, sponsoring social and educational events, conducting peer
education, organizing to create campuses free from violence, and exploring the ways men can
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
National Bystander Programs
be allies to women and girls. The initiative provides
training, organizing tools and technical assistance.
The Club supports student groups, faculty and staff
who are working to end violence against women.
You can learn more at www.mencanstoprape.org/
The-Campus-Men-of-Strength-Club.
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Core Values
Men Can Stop Rape’s core
organizational values are:
♦♦ Prevention
♦♦ Nonviolence
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The Men of Strength Club (MOST Club) offers a
♦♦ Redefining masculinity
22-week school-based curriculum that teaches males 11-18
♦♦ Male positivity
years old about dating relationship skills. It encourages them
♦♦ Gender equity
to show their “strength” in positive ways among their peers,
as they learn about healthy masculinity and translate this
learning into community leadership. The CDC has identified
this initiative as among the top gender violence programs in the U.S.
The Healthy Masculinity Action Project is “a national grassroots movement to eradicate the
harmful expectations and stereotypes our society teaches boys about what it means to be a man. A
two-year initiative, HMAP aims to build a new generation of male leaders who will model strength
without violence and serve as positive change makers in society — taking their communities from
awareness to action.”
More information is available at: www.mencanstoprape.org.
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Bystander Intervention
Programs
Developing Capacity
Social Norms
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Bystander intervention is about individual actions, for sure. Yet another critical component is
students’ perceptions about what they think their peers are or are not doing. As Dr. Michael Fleming,
associate professor of the School of Applied Human Sciences and Family Services at the University
of Northern Iowa (UNI), asked during PaperClip’s “White House Report: Bystander Intervention
Education & Training” webinar (8/27/14), “What’s their perception of the norm out there?”
Drinking Behaviors
This is often called the social norms approach. Within student life, this has long been known as
a way to raise awareness regarding students’ real vs. perceived drinking behaviors — or the actual
social norms at play within campus populations.
Many institutions have found that, by educating students about the small percentage of peers
who actually partake of dangerous drinking practices, the majority of students are less likely to try to
“drink up” to what they initially perceived as the overall social norm.
Bystander Behaviors
This social norms strategy comes
into play when discussing bystander
intervention, too. As Dr. Fleming and
his colleagues at UNI found, “the
perception of what the peer culture
is really is a significant predictor of
whether you would intervene or not”
(8/27/14).
Social Marketing Campaigns
One effective way to raise awareness about
actual campus norms is through a social marketing
campaign. This strategy shares percentages and
numbers to help students see what their peers are
really doing when it comes to particular behaviors.
This can work when you’re talking about
bystander intervention. Many students may be
more likely to step into a situation or proactively
address a harmful comment if they believe their
peers would do the same.
He goes on to explain that in their
campus findings, they found that
“individuals are more likely to intervene
in more aggressive types of behaviors,
but when they see less aggressive
behaviors, and in the more common behaviors, then it becomes a little more iffy whether they want
to intervene or not.”
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Bystander Tools to Use
Bystander Barriers: A Worksheet (page 1 of 2)
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When it comes to bystander intervention, we know there are barriers to consider and fears to
address. Some of those may include…
□□ Embarrassment
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□□ Not perceiving a problem
□□ Thinking someone else will handle it
□□ Believing that others aren’t bothered by the behavior
□□ Fear of retaliation
□□ Fear of being called derogatory names
□□ Thinking you’ll become the next target
□□ Peer disapproval for intervening
□□ Thinking that you might be “overreacting”
□□ Not knowing how to effectively step into a volatile situation
□□ Wondering if you might make things worse
Put a check mark next to any of the above barriers that concern you. Jot down a sentence or two
about why they concern you. Be honest — there are no right answers.
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Bystander Tools to Use
Bystander Barriers: A Worksheet (page 2 of 2)
Additional Thoughts:
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What are some of the other bystander barriers that are on your mind?
How might you work through three different barriers to become a more effective bystander?
(Work on these by yourself, in a pair and/or in a small group.)
Barrier:
My Plan:
Barrier:
My Plan:
Barrier:
My Plan:
Thanks for working to face your fears. You have every right to stand up and say, “This is
NOT okay.” It makes a big difference!
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Bystander Tools to Use
Case Studies
“The guys decided to focus
on this cause to help alleviate
some of the ‘fraternity men are
misogynistic jerks’ attitudes
they often encounter.”
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Harry is a member of a Greek organization
and lives in the chapter house right off campus.
The university recognizes the group and Harry
was initially drawn to the fraternity because
“they seemed like a great group of guys.”
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Guy Talk
The Philanthropy
The organization focuses on philanthropy, giving time and raising funds for a local domestic
violence shelter that serves women and children. The guys decided to focus on this cause to help
alleviate some of the “fraternity men are misogynistic jerks” attitudes they often encounter.
Harry is glad to be part of a cause that he believes is so important, especially since he grew up
with a single mom who experienced domestic abuse. He puts his energy into the philanthropy and is
glad the other guys are, too.
Concerning Comments
One afternoon, however, he hears a few of his brothers talking during a fundraising event for the
shelter. One says, “My friend Sara is being abused by her boyfriend and it’s making me crazy! I want
to pound his face in but don’t think it’s my place.” Another one says, “Well, if she’s sticking around
to take what he’s dishing out, maybe she doesn’t really want to leave.” And then another says, “She’s
probably a pain in the a-- and the guy just takes out his frustrations at home, rather than getting fired
at work. Can you blame him?”
Harry isn’t sure what to say, as he has various concerns about the guys’ different perspectives. He
doesn’t want to lecture them, yet he also doesn’t want to stand by and say nothing.
Discussion Questions:
• What concerns might Harry have about what the guys are discussing?
• How might the setting impact any action Harry might take?
• What are some ways Harry could effectively intervene as a bystander in this situation?
• What barriers might he be facing?
• What are some of the short-term concerns here? Long-term ones?
• What resources would someone like Harry have on your campus to help handle this situation?
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