Bystanders to College Bullying: An Application of the Bystander Intervention Model

Abstract

College bullying is a damaging health problem. Many campuses have bullying prevention efforts, yet few are tailored to bystanders. This is unfortunate, as peer bystanders are present in most bullying situations and know about incidents before campus officials. However, many bystanders fail to intervene due to fear and uncertainty about how to safely and effectively help. This dissertation utilized mixed methods research to pursue three goals. First, informed by the bystander intervention model (BIM; Latané & Darley, 1970), focus groups were conducted to explore how college students: 1) notice bullying, 2) interpret harm, 3) feel motivation to help, 4) know how to help, and 5) implement intervention decisions. These results uncover how bystanders communicatively construct their bullying experiences, as well as the range of possibilities and difficulties encountered when making intervention choices. The second goal of this project was to analyze whether participation in long-term focus groups serve as a bullying intervention in and of itself. A pre- and post-test design revealed that participants in the intervention group had higher bystander intervention scores. Initiatives that involve education and group-dialogue sessions have great potential to improve bystanders’ attitudes and behaviors that support bullied peers. Last, students evaluated 28 bystander responses to bullying that varied along three dimensions: 1) helpful to unhelpful, 2) safe to unsafe, and 3) direct to indirect. These evaluations illustrate the range of intervention options as a mechanism to reduce passive and avoidant bystander roles. This study’s findings encourage campuses to adopt bystander intervention campaigns to curtail bullying.