Bystander programs aim to prevent personal violence, such as dating violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and stalking. They equip community members with skills to stop the violence before it happens by engaging in active bystander behaviors such as speaking up in potentially risky situations or supporting victims. Given that victimization and perpetration of personal violence, including co-occurrence, are common among youth, high schools have begun implementing bystander programs in recent years. This study examined the relationship between high school students’ experience of personal violence and their active bystander behaviors. Using the social identity approach as a theoretical foundation, this study hypothesized that polyvictims with two types of personal violence victimization would be more active as bystanders compared to those with no or one victimization experience. The study also hypothesized that polyperpetrators with two types of personal violence perpetration would be less active as bystanders compared to those with no or one perpetration experience. The study utilized a secondary dataset from a five-year study, Green Dot across the Bluegrass, which examined the effectiveness of the bystander program Green Dot in reducing rates of personal violence. Using network visualization techniques, commonly co-occurring violence types were identified. Cross-tabulation was used to examine the relationship between experience of co-occurring violence and individual characteristics, including sex, grade, sexual orientation, and exposure to parental partner violence. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine differences in active bystander behaviors based on victimization levels and on perpetration levels. One-Way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was also used to examine differences in active bystander behaviors based on victimization levels and perpetration levels after controlling for sex, rape myth acceptance, dating violence acceptance, and exposure to the bystander program. Findings revealed that polyvictimization and polyperpetration were both significantly associated with sex, grade, sexual attraction, and exposure to parental partner violence. Polyvictims showed significantly higher levels of active bystander behaviors than those with single or no victimization. Polyperpetrators also showed significantly higher levels of active bystander behaviors than students in other perpetration categories. Future research should include contextual variables such as level of injuries, intent of perpetration, and history of violence in order to more accurately distinguish victimization and perpetration. Suggestions for practice and policies include intervention in adult intimate partner violence to reduce impact on children. It is also recommended that bystander programs to be made relevant to students who are not exclusively heterosexual. Considering the potential presence of victims among participants, the program staff should be aware of impact of trauma and be prepared to provide support as needed. Finally, more rigorous investigation of the impact of bystander programs on youth who are victims as well as perpetrators is warranted.

In recent years, the use of bystander intervention training to address campus sexual violence has risen rapidly. More research is critically needed to guide the ongoing development and implementation of prevention efforts by campuses utilizing this relatively new approach. This investigation examined associations between college students' bystander intervention behavior and three key factors: (1) perceived peer norms supportive of sexual violence; (2) perceived campus administrative response to sexual violence; and (3) sense of campus community. Data from a sample of 2370 college students was analyzed using hierarchical linear regression to test both direct and moderated effects. Findings revealed that both peer norms supportive of sexual violence and perceptions of campus administrative response to sexual violence were significantly associated with bystander intervention. No significant direct or moderating effects related to sense of campus community were uncovered in this sample. Implications of this study include contributing to the current knowledge base about factors associated with bystander intervention behavior, and informing campus efforts to make bystander training programs more effective.

Workplace environments and the dynamics that exist within them affect everyone involved, especially coworkers. Although research has investigated how workplace bullying impacts its victims and the organization, little research has examined the effects of workplace bullying from the role of the bystander. Fewer have investigated how Perceived of Organizational Support (POS) may affect the employee's work engagement of those witnesses. The goal of this quantitative study was to determine the effect of POS on work engagement in the employees who witness workplace bullying. An online survey was used with the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised, (NAQ-R), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and POS instruments. It was launched on LinkedIn and 152 respondents participated and were asked to snowball the link. The study employed the affective events theory that presupposes that the occupational atmosphere influences those in proximity to negative behaviors. Regression results showed that only POS (t (150) = 5.14, p < 0.001) predicted employees' work engagement. On the other hand, witnessing workplace bullying (t (150) = -0.69, p = 0.49) did not affect employees' work engagement. This study provides a useful framework to illustrate how the environment of workplace bullying affects an organization's human and fiscal resources, contributing to the body of knowledge that can benefit organizations by helping to affect social change.

Sexual assault of women is a well-documented phenomenon in U.S. samples, particularly on college campuses. Innovative approaches to prevention encourage men and women to intervene as bystanders in sexual assault situations; however, bystander behavior is notoriously inhibited by various situational factors. This study used a mixed-method approach to better understand the role of situational factors in college men’s bystander behavioral intentions in a party gang rape situation. The first aim was to develop an experimental paradigm using vignette methodology to manipulate the amount of masculinity threat present in a party gang rape situation, which could then be used to explore the effect of masculinity threat on men’s bystander behavioral intentions. Although I was unable to heighten masculinity threat, findings indicate that a previous relationship with the offenders results in men expecting a typical male college bystander to experience less negative affect in the situation. The second aim was to use the vignettes to examine whether men’s perception of the rape-supportive and traditional masculine gender role norms among the offenders involved, as well as indicators of masculinity threat, would predict men’s bystander behavioral intentions. Boding well for bystander intervention programs, the majority (98%) of men reported intention to intervene to stop the assault to some degree, although this intention was lower for men who perceived the party gang rape situation to result in more negative affect for a typical college male bystander. Data depicts the party gang rape situation as one in which masculine norms and masculinity threat are salient; however, these aspects did not play a role in intentions to intervene. Eighteen percent of men reported some intention to join in the assault, which was predicted by perceived masculine norms and men’s demographic characteristics. Findings point to the importance of culturally competent programming and the utility of incorporating a social norms approach in bystander intervention programs. Programs may benefit from addressing concerns about retaliation, particularly as a function of men’s relationships to the offenders. A limitation is the exclusion of individual difference variables to explore whether men’s own attitudes interact with situational factors to predict bystander behavioral intentions.

Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på hur en utanförstående upplever, påverkas av, och hanterar en konflikt mellan arbetskamrater på arbetsplatsen. En kvalitativ studie med öppna intervjuer genomfördes med åtta deltagare. Data analyserades med induktiv tematisk analys. Resultatet visade att konflikter på arbetsplatsen påverkar såväl individen, arbetsgruppen som hela arbetsplatsen negativt. Den utanförstående upplever konflikter på arbetsplatsen som påfrestande och att de på flera olika sätt påverkas negativt av dem. Hur utanförstående upplever, påverkas av och hanterar konflikter mellan arbetskamrater är framför allt beroende av konfliktens innehåll och allvar. De negativa känslorna visar sig vara starkare vid konflikter där någon upplevs bli utsatt eller illa behandlad och då ökar även viljan att ingripa i konflikten. Vid konflikter som mestadels rör arbetsfrågor uppkommer istället känslor av passivitet, många vill ta avstånd och anser att konflikten är löjlig och onödig. / The purpose of this study was to find out how an bystander feels, gets influenced by, and handles a conflict among colleagues at work. A qualitative study with eight participants, using open interviews was conducted. Data were analyzed by inductive thematic analysis. The results showed that workplace conflicts affect the individual, the work group and the entire workplace negatively. Bystanders experience workplace conflicts as stressful and that they are negatively affected by them in several ways. How outsiders perceive, are affected by and deal with conflicts between colleagues depend on the content and severity of the conflict. The negative emotions appears to be stronger in conflicts where someone is considered to be victimized or treated badly and the willingness to intervene in such conflict increases. Conflicts mostly related to work issues mainly arise feelings of passivity. People often want to dissociate themselves because they consider the conflict to be ridiculous and unnecessary.

Cyberbullying incidents often occur in the presence of other bystanders. The inaction of bystanders can augment the deleterious effects of bullying on a victim. However, bystanders can often take action to stop a cyberbullying incident or offer support to the victim. Two studies examined the association between several variables which were expected to influence the propensity for a bystander to take action in cyberbullying incidents -- the number of bystanders, the depersonalization/anonymity of the bystander, and the relational closeness between the bystander and the victim. Moreover, the first study addressed the need for more descriptive research into cyberbullying by examining the strategies and topics used by perpetrators. Results of both Study 1 and Study 2 provided support for the diffusion of responsibility effect. Specifically, a higher number of bystanders was negatively associated with a bystander's propensity to intervene and stop the incident. In Study 2, this effect was moderated by both depersonalization and closeness. That is, individuals were most likely to intervene when they did not feel depersonalized, the victim was a close friend, and there were a low number of bystanders. Moreover, in both Study 1 and Study 2 the perceived anonymity of bystanders negatively related to their propensity to intervene, and closeness with the victim was associated with a higher likelihood to intervene and support the victim. Finally, descriptive data illustrated the types and strategies of cyberbullying episodes which occur in a college-aged sample. Altogether, the results shed light on the interplay of context, relationships, and technology in the behavior of bystanders to a cyberbullying episode. / text

Regulatory T cells represent a specialized subpopulation of T lymphocytes that may modulate spontaneous HIV-1 disease progression by suppressing immune activation or inhibiting antiviral T cell immune responses. While effects of classical \(CD25^{hi}FoxP3^+CD4^+\) regulatory T cells during HIV-1 infection have been analyzed in a series of recent investigations, very little is known about the role of non-classical regulatory T cells that do not express intracellular FoxP3. Here I evaluated two groups of non-classical Treg cells. One is phenotypically identified by the surface expression of HLA-G, an HLA class Ib molecule. The other Treg cell population is characterized by the surface expression of latency-associated peptide (LAP), a membrane-bound form of \(TGF-\beta\). Both HLA-G and LAP-expressing T cells are present in small proportions in peripheral blood of healthy individuals. I performed a systematic study on the phenotypic and functional profile of HLAG- and LAP- expressing regulatory T (Treg) cells in patients with different stages of HIV-1 infection. I found that HLA-G-expressing Treg cells were highly susceptible to HIV-1 infection, and were significantly reduced in individuals with progressive HIV-1 disease courses. Moreover, the proportion of \(HLA-G^+\) CD4 and CD8 T cells was positively correlated with CD4 T cell count and inversely correlated with markers of HIV-1 associated immune activation. Mechanistically, this correlation corresponded to a substantially increased ability of \(HLA-G^+\) Treg cells to inhibit bystander immune activation, while only minimally affecting functional properties of HIV-1-specific T cells. In contrast, no significant change in \(LAP^+\) Treg cell frequencies was found in progressive HIV-1 infection, and these frequencies were not correlated with immune activation. This observation was consistent with functional analysis, which indicated that \(LAP^+\) Treg cells did not suppress bystander activation. These investigations indicate an important role of \(HLA-G^+\) Treg cells for balancing bystander immune activation and anti-viral immune activity in HIV-1 infection, and suggest that the loss of these cells during advanced HIV-1 infection may contribute to immune dysregulation and HIV-1 disease progression. In the meantime, \(LAP^+\) Treg cells do not appear to play an important role in determining HIV-1 disease outcome.

The current study tests a social-cognitive model of bystander responses to bullying in an attempt to better understand why bystanders respond as they do. Three forms of bystander responses were predicted by adult and friend responses to bullying and the bystander’s reasons for intervening. The present study involved 326 children from grades 4-8 who completed the PREVNet Assessment Survey, a novel wide-ranging measure of bullying phenomena. Sound psychometric properties were found for the four measures used in the present study. In elucidating the effects of social context, the differential impact of adult and friend responses on bystander responses was examined. Results indicate that friends are more influential than are adults in predicting bystander responses. Further, results of serial multiple mediation analysis generally support a social-cognitive model, suggesting that social context impacts intervention reasoning, which in turn, impact bystander responses. Implications for future research and policy are discussed. / SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Master's Scholarship

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Because racism remains a significant issue in society, and many victims of racism do not speak up for themselves when faced with racism, it is important to explore how witnesses to racist events may react and intervene upon observing racism toward others. Thus, the current study explored how participants (bystanders) reacted verbally to racist comments made by a confederate during a partner activity, as well as how participants discussed their reactions in post-interviews. Forty college students participated in the study, and three of the participants verbally intervened upon hearing the racist statements. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior was utilized as a framework, and examination of the results indicated that components of the theory as well as social constructions of racism and appropriateness of intervention behaviors affect intervention outcomes. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future research are included.