Session: Bystanders As a Cornerstone for Prevention Strategies to Improve Well-Being (Society for Prevention Research 24th Annual Meeting)

Research on health equality and well-being and prevention strategies to reduce inequality must consider exposure to violence. Decades of research make clear that victimization is an important part of the adversity burden that disproportionately affects some individuals and communities. Decades of research makes clear the link between violence exposure and problems with well-being (physical, psychological, economic). Research like the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (Centers for Disease Control) shows that victimization rates are not distributed equally across social locations (gender, race, income). Thus, violence prevention needs to be part of discussions of how prevention can promote health and reduce disparities. Bystander action is a growing evidence based approach to violence prevention (including prevention of bullying, intimate partner violence, dating violence, and sexual assault). It is being applied to school, college campus, and community settings and is part of enhancing social environments to improve health outcomes. Bystanders are third parties who have the potential to contribute to all three levels of prevention. We know from recent research that they are present in a high percentage of instances of a variety of forms of interpersonal violence. At the tertiary or indicated level, bystanders are the first responders and supporters of victims, given research that shows that victims who disclose to others (usually family and friends) and receive a supportive response, have better outcomes. Bystanders can intervene in situations of risk for sexual or intimate partner violence or bullying to keep a victimization from happening. Bystanders are also a cornerstone of primary prevention. For example, bystanders are integral to key community processes including social norms, collective efficacy, and informal social control that set the context for communities that model intolerance of violence. This panel presents new theoretical and empirical studies that show how to promote bystander action to improve well-being and reduce violence. Presenters will discuss a new, empirically based theory for bystander action to reduce interpersonal violence including empirical findings on the impact of bystander actions, present findings of a new randomized control study of the effectiveness of bystander training to reduce relationship violence among high school students, and present new results on the importance of bystanders to online bullying and harassment. The panel connects with the overall conference theme of promoting health equity and well-being and the special themes on enhancing physical, social, and economic environments to promote health equity.