Self-Control, Opportunity, and College Students' Bystander Intervention in Sexually Coercive Situations

This study examines students' bystander intervention opportunities and behaviors using survey data from a convenience sample of 226 college students from a university in the United States. We approach this study with theoretical concepts from the criminological literature on positive peer influence, self-control theories, and social control theories. Bivariate correlations and logistic analysis reveal, contrary to our predictions, that social and self-control have only minor predictive power on the likelihood of witnessing and intervening in sexually coercive events. However, we find strong support for some demographic characteristics, peer relationships, and behavioral characteristics (such as binge drinking) as predictive of witnessing a sexually coercive event and intervening in an event. Our study adds to the literature on bystander intervention behavior and aims to inform bystander intervention programming efforts by identifying student populations that are more likely to have the opportunity to intervene in sexually coercive situations and sexual assaults.