Community Level Violence Prevention: Concept Mapping to Understand Bystanders

• In Event: Crime and Justice Among Female Victims

Abstract

As bystander intervention has moved to the center of research and practices to prevent sexual and relationship violence in communities, there is a need to better understand how communities understand the role citizens can play in prevention. Concept mapping is an innovative qualitative method for understanding how people think about a given topic. The proposed paper will present the results of concept mapping focus groups in four small mostly rural communities designed to understand community members' ideas about bystander actions to prevent sexual and relationship violence. Implications for using this method as an indicator of community-level prevention strategy effectiveness will also be considered.

Authors

• Victoria Lynn Banyard, University of New Hampshire

• Katie M. Edwards, University of New Hampshire