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Barriers and facilitators of intervening: The case of campus sexual assaults

Alameri, Abdulla (2017) Barriers and facilitators of intervening: The case of campus sexual assaults. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

This study examines the key barriers and facilitators, according to student respondents, that prevent and encourage bystanders on college campuses to intervene prior to or during a sexual assault. The research observes that an increased number of campus sexual assaults would have been avoided if bystanders intervened in a timely manner (see, for example, Darley & Latané, 1970). However, bystanders are most often reluctant to offer help because of a number of barriers, which will be discussed. Prior literature and theoretical contributions identify the major barriers to bystander intervention in criminal behavior generally as (1) diffusion of responsibility by bystanders, (2) lack of personal connection between the victim and the bystander(s), (3) fear ofexposure to negative personal consequences, and (4) problems in identifying if the problem was worth calling for intervention (Darley & Latané, 1970). A later study by Burn (2009) studied these major barriers directly in relation to sexual assault. This study builds on the work by Burn to further investigate barriers to bystander intervention specifically for campus sexual assault as well as to also identify facilitators that encourage bystander intervention.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement: © Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords: bystander; sexual assault; college campus;
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status: Student
Department/Unit: Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations
College of Social and Behavioral Science > Criminology and Criminal Justice
Date Deposited: 20 Dec 2017 21:43
URI: http://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/4914

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