The development and evaluation of the bystander intervention "Intervene"

Project title

The development and evaluation of the bystander intervention "Intervene”

Project manager

Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen

Project description

Objective:
To evaluate participants’ perceptions of the bystander intervention including its perceived effects.

Background:
In 2013, the Work Environment Association for Social and Health Services funded the development of a preventative intervention targeting bystanders to conflicts and bullying at work. The three-step, research-based intervention was developed in collaboration with Tine Ravn Holmegaard. In Step 1, participants are introduced to six bystander roles after which they watch two short films followed by group and plenary discussions of for example the bystander behaviour displayed in the films.

In Step 2, participants discuss (in groups of 5-6 people) the targeted risk situations for bullying, namely conflicts and norm violation, in relation to their own work group. Participants make a note of central themes which is then handed over to the work environment organisation.

In Step 3, the work environment organisation (alone or in cooperation with the employees) develops and implement action plans aimed at preventing and managing the identified risk situations for bullying.

Methods:
Phase 1: Post-intervention and follow-up group interviews (employees, employee representatives and managers) in three organizations. Post-intervention and follow-up group interviews in a fourth organization, which implemented a slightly revised version of the bystander intervention in 2016.

Phase 2: Larger research project in which the intervention is evaluated by means of both quantitative and qualitative data.

Perspective:
Research points to workplace bullying as a potentially traumatic stressor which may also have considerable negative effects on groups and organizations. Accordingly, there is a need to develop, implement and evaluate interventions aimed at workplace bullying, which also focus on the role of bystanders. The intervention is already being used by many workplaces, yet additional research, qualitative as well as quantitative, is needed to document its effects as well as stimulating or obstructive factors affecting its implementation and perceived effects.

The project is carried out under

THRIVE Research Group

Collaborators

Annie Høgh, University of Copenhagen

Keywords

Workplace bullying, conflicts, bullying, intervention, prevention, bystanders, qualitative research, work environment, organizations