Rutgers Center on Violence Against Women and Children Finds SCREAM Theater Improves Bystander Behavior

Researchers will present findings March 11 from CDC-funded study on preventing campus sexual assault

A new study by university researchers finds that a Rutgers peer education program is prompting more bystanders to get involved in the prevention of sexual violence.

The Center on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) at Rutgers University released findings this week from its report, "SCREAMing to Prevent Violence," which investigated the effectiveness of Rutgers’ SCREAM Theater, a peer education program. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention.

SCREAM Theater, an improvisational theater program developed by Rutgers’ Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance, uses interactive skits to educate audiences on issues of interpersonal violence, specifically on sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, stalking, sexual harassment and bullying.

“Demonstrating a positive increase in actual behaviors is significant. Many bystander programs only measure attitudes or intentions rather than actual behaviors. The fact that participation in SCREAM Theater showed behavioral impact is promising,” said Sarah McMahon, assistant professor for Rutgers School of Social Work and acting co-director of VAWC.

The study compared level of exposure to SCREAM Theater and its impact on a range of bystander-related outcomes in situations involving sexual violence and incoming undergraduate college students.

Incoming undergraduate students were recruited to participate in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: students who received one dose of SCREAM Theater only, those who received three doses, and those who received three doses plus a booster.

Students were invited to participate in a pretest at orientation and then five online post-tests over the next 18 months. Measures were used to assess bystander intentions, bystander behavior, perceptions of peer bystander norms and rape myth acceptance. A total of 1,390 students were included in the final sample.

According to findings, participation had a small but significant impact on bystander intentions and bystander behaviors. The study found a significant increase in behavioral intentions after one dose of SCREAM. The three-dose group also had significantly higher behavioral intention scores for the first three months after receiving the intervention.

The program successfully lowered some rape myths, but not others, said McMahon. Short-term results indicated that one dose of intervention was effective in decreasing rape myth beliefs for three subscales: She asked for it, he did not mean to, and she lied.

“Our analyses indicate that for a number of outcomes related to bystander intervention and attitudes about sexual violence, those who received more doses fared better,” said McMahon.

Campus sexual assault is a pervasive, important issue at the forefront of national discussion. Rutgers, through its Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance, has been proudly on the front lines of responding to and preventing sexual violence on campus through programs like SCREAM.

“SCREAM Theater has been using bystander intervention for almost 25 years, long before there was a term to describe the behavior. We are delighted that the research confirmed the use of bystander intervention as a prevention tool. The collaboration between the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance and the Center for Violence Against Women and Children is a unique one that should be replicated at other schools in order to support this type of research,” said Ruth Anne Koenick, director of the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance.

The White House recently began focusing on raising awareness for the issue and is researching ways to combat the glaring statistics that one in five women will be victims of attempted or completed sexual assault during their time in college. As part of the this effort, Rutgers was chosen to conduct a campuswide sexual assault climate survey, which will be used to determine how large of problem sexual violence on campus is according to students, and will evaluate how effective students find the university’s response to sexual violence.

The “SCREAMing to Prevent Violence” event on Wednesday, March 11 is co-sponsored by the Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance and Rutgers School of Social Work, Center on Violence Against Women and Children.

-- Beth Salamon

For more information on the study, contact Dr. Sarah McMahon at smcmahon@ssw.rutgers.edu or visit vawc.rutgers.edu. More information about SCREAM Theater can be found at vpva.rutgers.edu