Bystander Intervention Training

An innovative program that sets the standard for bystander intervention training. This research-informed program by Soteria Solutions incorporates a community of responsibility model rather than narrowly focusing on victims and perpetrators; all community members have a role as active bystanders in ending incivility, harassment, including sexual violence, and discrimination. Participants develop and practice bystander intervention prevention skills, learning prosocial (positive, appropriate, and safe) ways to effectively intervene.

Bystanders – Individuals who notice a behavior or situation that could lead to something bad, and are faced with the choice to help, do nothing, or contribute to the negative behavior.

Active bystanders – Individuals who DO SOMETHING to decrease the likelihood that something bad will occur or get worse.

Check out this video for a great look at the difference between being a bystander and being an active bystander!

Here at SNC, we encourage our students to intervene in situations that could lead to a sexual assault or sexual misconduct. Students are reminded only to intervene when it is safe to do so and after assuring that their involvement won’t make the situation worse. As a student at St. Norbert College, it is part of your responsibility on campus and your commitment to those around you, to engage in active bystander interventions. By doing this, you can stop unsafe situations from happening. And you can serve as a role model to your peers, so they feel confident to do the same.

Diffusion of responsibility: With more people present, the notion of “somebody else will do something” comes into effect. One person might assume they don’t need to act because somebody else will!

Group think: Action (or failure to act) that allows events/situations/conversations to take place within a group, when someone would never allow these to happen if they were alone.

Conformity: Matching attitudes, decisions and beliefs to those of the larger group. Conformity is affected by social norms, peer pressure, group size, relationship to group members and personality – just to name a few.

Bystander intervention workshops, programs and presentations are available from trained team members. Contact the  Director of Health & Wellness Programs at  health@snc.edu or 920-403-3259 to request a program. All presentations are flexible to meet your needs.

Bystanders have the potential to intervene before, during, or after an instance of violence. We use C.A.P.E.S. acronym to highlight how one can think through their strengths and strategies most suited to their personality.

• C-Creativity - Encourage participants to think of creative, de-escalating, "outside of the box" strategies for intervening.
• A- Active - Some intervention strategies are more active.  This may include starting a conversation, directly saying something to someone, or calling the authorities.
• P-Passive-Other interventions may be more passive.  This may include creating a distraction, calling attention to oneself in a subtle way, playing dumb, etc.
• E-Engage Others - Most good intervention strategies involve working in teams.  Intervention strategies done as a team are more likely to be safe and effective.  Remind participants that asking others to help is a good idea.
• S - Safety and Support - This may be the most important piece. It is very important that bystanders remember to keep themselves safe, to always try to de-escalate situations, and to never rely on violence as a solution.  Additionally, we can provide support by checking-in with survivors and offering resources if asked.

©2025 University of New Hampshire. All rights reserved. C.A.P.E.S. & Bringing in the Bystander® is exclusively distributed by Soteria Solutions.