An exploratory analysis of college students' response and reporting behavior regarding intimate partner violence...

Over the last several decades, an extensive literature has documented the prevalence of dating violence on college campuses. As a result, initiatives to promote awareness of dating violence on college campuses have proliferated and models of "bystander intervention" have been developed. Bystander intervention asserts that by giving all students information concerning the prevalence and warning signs of dating violence, these individuals will "say something" when they see problem behavior. However, a paucity of empirical research exists concerning whether students actually report their observation of dating violence among their peers. In the present study, a sample of college freshman (n = 275) was surveyed regarding their willingness to report dating violence behaviors among their friends. Findings indicate that a slight majority of respondents report that they would report dating violence victimization among their friends to university officials (54%) and/or law enforcement (56%) while fewer indicated they would report perpetration, 38% and 42%, respectively. Importantly, respondents overwhelmingly report that they would attempt to intervene in the dating violence victimization (87%) and perpetration (84%). Implications of these findings for campus safety initiatives and bystander education models are discussed.