Modifiers of Neighbors' Bystander Intervention in Intimate Partner Violence: A Concept Mapping Study

Background: Encouraging bystander intervention to prevent intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is an important violence prevention strategy.  Most research is campus-based, thus our understanding of bystander intervention among adults living in urban areas is underdeveloped.

Methods:  We conducted a concept mapping study with residents (41) of a low-income New York City neighborhood.  Whether feasibility (i.e., that the participant “could” or “would” enact it) and effectiveness of bystander intervention varied by couple- and family-level characteristics was assessed.  We conducted multidimensional scaling and agglomerative cluster analysis to create a concept map of bystander behaviors.  Uni- and bi-variate analyses examined differences in feasibility and effectiveness by 1 couple-level characteristic (i.e., have history of breaking up or have been together a long time or have a history of IPV) and 1 family-level characteristic (i.e., children live in apartment or may witness violence), and participant sociodemographic characteristics.

Results:  A 13-cluster solution emerged, with clusters grouped in four areas: victim-, parenting/education-, perpetrator-, and community-focused.  Bivariate analyses revealed that participants rated all areas as more feasible when a child is involved.  Men rated intervention as less feasible when the couple had a history of IPV.  Participants who reported a history of IPV victimization rated all areas as less effective, as compared with participants without IPV history. 

Conclusions:  Engaging urban residents in bystander intervention may be an effective way to prevent IPV and change social norms.  The presence of children may encourage such intervention, but also complicates it.  Further research is needed on factors that moderate intervention.