"Intervene" Bystander Campaign

The Skorton Center for Health Initiatives at Cornell Health, in collaboration with the Cornell Interactive Theater Ensemble, has developed a new bystander intervention video and workshop called Intervene © 2016.

What is Intervene?

Intervene is both a video and a workshop:

• Video: The online 20-minute video Intervene includes brief filmed scenarios demonstrating ways in which student bystanders can successfully intervene in problematic situations. Seven different situations are addressed, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence (emotional abuse), hazing, alcohol emergency, emotional distress, and bias. Characters in the film represent the diverse identities of college student populations including race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. View the video, embedded below.
• Workshop: An in-person 60-minute workshop provides an opportunity for students to view the video with others and engage in a facilitated conversation to reflect upon the attitudes and behaviors that influence the process of intervening as an individual or with assistance. Participants also discuss additional related scenarios not included in the film.

Both the video and workshop are:

Use of Intervene resources

The following resources are available to the public at no cost, in the collaborative spirit of cultivating college health and well-being:

• The video, Intervene (©2016) is available to share (but not available for download)
• One-page program overview (CU NetID required, or email us)
• Facilitator Discussion Guide (CU NetID required, or email us)

In lieu of payment: We hope you will consider helping us evaluate the success of this program (video and/or workshop) in various settings across the nation. Please take 5 minutes to share how you plan to use Intervene by completing this short Google form. 

Background / Project History

The video Intervene, and corresponding training, recognizes all members of a campus community as collaborative partners in the cultivation of campus health and well-being. It also demonstrates the versatility of bystander intervention as a strategy that can be used to address a variety of campus issues. Intervene draws upon a well-studied Pro-Social Bystander Intervention Theory, which suggests seven steps for successfully intervening in a problematic situation.

7 Steps to an effective bystander intervention:

1. Recognize the behavior
2. Interpret behavior as a problem
3. Feel a sense of responsibility
4. Know what to do (or not do)
5. Feel you have the ability to take action
6. Perform a quick cost/benefit analysis
7. Act (direct, distract, delegate, discuss)

The Intervene video models how students successfully navigate these steps in an authentic fashion, utilizing a variety of personal strategies. For example, some students communicate directly with the person causing the problem; some create a diversion or distraction to change the situation; still others call upon others (students, staff, and emergency personnel) for assistance.

Inspiration for Intervene came from American University's "Step Up" video. Their 5 1/2 minute video was one of the first of its kind to demonstrate how the same bystander intervention techniques can be used to address and prevent common college health concerns, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence, alcohol poisoning, hazing, and suicide.

Building upon this model, staff from Cornell University expanded upon this idea by adding into Intervene scenarios on sexual harassment and bias. Cornell had been implementing bystander intervention programs on campus for years in a "one-topic-per-program" model. To learn more about Cornell's other bystander intervention initiatives please visit:

• Good Samaritan Protocol and Law (responding to alcohol emergencies)
• Notice & Respond Programs (mental health/suicide prevention):
  • Notice & Respond: Assisting Students in Distress (helping staff and faculty respond to mental health crises)
  • Notice & Respond: Friend 2 Friend (helping students respond to peer's mental health concerns)
• hazing.cornell.edu (hazing prevention)

Quotes from Intervene participants

Here's what some of the workshop participants had to say about Intervene:

• "Great workshop! I definitely feel, more prepared to handle these types of situations." ~ Undergraduate student
• "I liked that it was about lots of things together - not just isolating something, especially sexual assault." ~ Undergraduate student
• "The video was really realistic and representative of Cornell parties and problems students face." ~ Undergraduate student
• "Very professional video! The discussion really engaged students effectively! It seemed like people felt really comfortable about sharing. Thanks!" ~ Undergraduate student

Use of materials

While educational videos are often used to reach incoming students at orientation events, Cornell's Intervene is designed to build upon existing educational programming that occurs during New Student Orientation. It was also deigned to be applicable to (and resonate with) the entire student body, including older undergraduate students, graduate, and professional students.

The information contained in the copyrighted Intervene materials is based on the developers' best efforts to interpret a body of research and literature, and to translate this into practical considerations. The materials are informational and educational in nature, and are intended to be used as developed and prepared by the Skorton Center for Health Initiatives.

• The video content is not to be modified, altered or revised in any way.
• The workshop content is not to be modified, altered, or revised in any way, except for tailoring to your own institutional practices, policies and resources.
• The Skorton Center makes no representation or warranty express or implied regarding any particular outcome from the use of the materials.
• Use in part or whole is permitted with attribution to developers.

Future plans

• Additional bias scenes will be available soon for viewing.
• We will continue to analyzing the results from our randomized control trial and pilot workshop evaluation of Intervene. Further analysis will be posted here in the coming months.

Credits

Student actors & extras:

Contact Information

For assistance, questions, etc., please contact:

Laura Santacrose,'11, MPH
Assistant Director
Skorton Center for Health Initiatives
Cornell Health

Supporters

We are grateful to the following individuals and company for their generous contributions. Their donations made possible both the creation of our video and the evaluation of the broader Intervene program.

• Cornell University alumni: 
  - Wendy Jacobs and Mark Glassman
  - Mary Kiyonaga
  - Mary Bowler Jones
  - Erica Prager
  - Janet and Michael Cornfeld

• United Educators