I’ve Got Your Back 2.0: Examining the Frequency and Predictors of Online Bystander Intervention Behaviors

• In Event: Exploring the Correlates of Cybercrime Victimization and Offending

Abstract

A promising crime prevention strategy has been to foster bystander intervention behaviors that encourage individuals to intervene on behalf of likely victims. Bystander intervention researchers have focused on a range of different types of victimization, with the majority of studies examining sexual victimization on college campuses. Thus far, however, cybercrime victimization has remained absent from the bystander intervention research, despite its growing incidence among college students. Using a random sample of undergraduate students from a large university in the Midwest, the current study explores the frequency and predictors of bystander intervention behaviors in response to online forms of victimization. Specific focus is placed on the impact that personal victimization has on whether or not individuals try to intervene for others who are experiencing online victimization.

Authors

• Billy Henson, Shippensburg University

• Brad Reyns, Weber State University

• Bonnie Fisher, University of Cincinnati