Initial Reports From Early Adopters of Restorative Justice for Reported Cases of Campus Sexual Misconduct: A Qualitative Study.

Campus sexual misconduct (CSM) continues to be a significant public health concern on U.S. college campuses. Updates to Title IX now allow informal resolution of reported cases of CSM, including the use of restorative justice (RJ) processes. This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences of early adopters of RJ for CSM through semistructured interviews with 10 current and former administrators who have adopted RJ for CSM. Findings suggest that RJ for CSM is a promising practice, one which requires key stakeholder engagement, thoughtful training for RJ facilitators, and extensive preparation of the parties for successful implementation.

"Stand Up and Do Something": Exploring Students' Perspectives on Bystander Intervention.

Bystander education is an increasingly popular primary prevention strategy for preventing sexual and relationship violence on college campuses. Although the evidence base for this primary prevention approach has grown substantially in recent years, more research is needed that accounts for changes in students' readiness to help and helping behaviors over time. In addition, because there is still much to learn about the factors that contribute to these changes in behavior, it is important to hear from students in their own words about their experiences with bystander education. This article presents qualitative data from a group of students who participated in a bystander intervention education program over an 18-month period and explores what conclusions can be drawn about the impact of this program on student attitudes, self-perception, and behaviors related to preventing sexual violence on a college campus. Themes that emerged from the data include students' increased knowledge about sexual violence, perceived changes in attitude about sexual assault on campus, students' increased desire to help in situations that could escalate to sexual assault, actual helping, and students' developing sense of themselves as persons of integrity and action.

Measuring bystander attitudes and behavior to prevent sexual violence.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to further investigate the factor structure and strength of the Bystander Attitude Scale-Revised and Bystander Behavior Scale-Revised (BAS-R and BBS-R). PARTICIPANTS: First-year students (N = 4,054) at a large public university in the Northeast completed a survey in 2010 as part of a larger longitudinal study of a sexual violence bystander education intervention program on campus. METHODS: Exploratory structural equation modeling was used to analyze survey responses to the BAS-R and BBS-R. RESULTS: For BAS-R, the best fit was a 4-factor model: (1) high-risk situations, (2) postassault support for victims, (3) postassault reporting of perpetrators, and (4) proactive opportunities. BBS-R was a 2-factor model: (1) intervention opportunities before, during, or after an assault, and (2) proactive opportunities. CONCLUSION: The BAS-R and BBS-R provide reliable tools that can be utilized to evaluate sexual violence bystander programs.