ANNEXE G: THE INTERVENTION INITIATIVE
The Intervention Initiative is a bespoke bystander intervention programme with a social norms component, which adheres to the public health criteria for effective prevention programming. It is designed specifically for the prevention of sexual and domestic violence in English university settings and was commissioned by Public Health England as a free resource for English universities. The multi-disciplinary research team who developed the intervention programme reviewed the strongest evidence and best practice worldwide in their evidence review published by Public Health England. 124 This evidence review verifies that best evidence was assimilated in the development of a theory of change model used to guide the development of the programme. The research team developed the programme in conjunction with a national expert advisory panel and a student bystander committee to ensure maximum authenticity and sociocultural relevance.
The resulting toolkit is available online and is published in its entirety at www. uwe. ac. uk / interventioninitiative. It includes all PowerPoints, handouts and facilitator notes to run the intervention. A theoretical rationale, which explains the pedagogical reasoning behind each interlinked element of the intervention was published to accompany the programme. Public Health England and the University of the West of England funded a full controlled statistical evaluation of the intervention. Results are very promising, showing the intervention to be effective, and are under review. Student feedback on the programme has been excellent and a report is available online.
The Intervention Initiative is a complex, multi-faceted intervention designed to run over eight hours of facilitated learning, delivered by trained facilitators using a wide variety of pedagogical techniques, in a small group environment. It aims to change the attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, social and cultural norms and peer group relationships which allow sexual and domestic violence to take place and to be normalised, and thus to engender a cultural change within student populations. The process of achieving attitude and behaviour change is complex, encompassing multiple stages – as seen within The Intervention Initiative – and this requires time and resources. One-off interventions – such as a short online programme – are unlikely to be effective in changing behaviour, and according to the White House Task Force Report 2014, are unlikely to have any impact on rates of violence., They also detract from investment of scarce resources into more effective approaches.
The Intervention Initiative is based on bystander theories. A prosocial bystander is someone who witnesses a problematic event or unhealthy behaviour and intervenes in a positive way. This intervention sends a powerful message to the wrongdoer and lets others know that it is socially acceptable to challenge such behaviour. There is a growing research base, predominantly from the United States, that a bystander intervention approach is showing a particular aptitude for effective prevention in universities. Empowering students to be bystanders is powerful because it situates men and women as part of an inclusive and positive community. The Intervention Initiative centres on fostering a shared social identity as a prosocial bystander, thus reducing scope for hostility and defensiveness that may decrease receptiveness to learning.
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Public Health England, A review of evidence for bystander intervention to prevent sexual and domestic violence in universities( April 2016).
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