Date of Graduation

12-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Health Science (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Health, Human Performance and Recreation

Advisor/Mentor

Hammig, Bart J.

Committee Member

Wyandt-Hiebert, Mary A.

Second Committee Member

Kissinger, Daniel B.

Third Committee Member

Gorman, Dean R.

Keywords

Health and environmental sciences; Education; Bystander intervention; College students; Peer education; Sexual assault prevention

Abstract

It has been reported that sexual victimization among college women is three times higher than the general population. Because of these alarming rates, sexual violence prevention has become a main concern on college campuses. Sexual violence prevention programs have been implemented and evaluated throughout the years in order to decrease the incidence of sexual violence, but very few have explored the bystander intervention component. The current study developed and evaluated a program that promoted proSocial bystander behavior through a one-time educational program utilizing peer educators. Data for this study were collected with a pre/posttest design from a Division 1 university in the Southern United States. Program participants were assessed in three areas: bystander efficacy, willingness to engage in bystander behaviors, and readiness to change with regard to sexual assault. Findings indicate that the developed program was effective in increasing scores from pretest to posttest and also maintaining retention rates for at least one month. In line with previous research, score differences among student athletes and non-athletes, Greek students and non-Greek students, and males and females were also examined and showed no significant differences between the subgroups. The hope of this research is to guide sexual assault programming to include a bystander intervention component while utilizing peer educators to decrease sexual assault victimization.

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