Bystander behavior in relation to violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered high school students

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Purpose of the Study; The purpose of this study was to examine high school students' patterns of violence reporting and what steps can be taken to increase the likelihood that students will report violent incidents in which they are the bystander, especially when the victim is a member of the LGBT student population. In addition, the bystander behaviors of LGBT students were examined.; Theoretical Framework; Social influence theory (Berkowitz, 2000) provided one framework for the purposes of this study. Bystander reporting has been shown to be particularly susceptible to social influence. Social influence describes the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors (Perkins & Berkowitz, 1986).; Method; In order to measure the attitudes and behaviors of high students, both LGBT and not, the purpose of this study completed by the use of a non-experimental research design. The dependent variable in this study was the likelihood of reporting by students who are bystanders to violence. The independent variables in this study were grade level, gender, sexual orientation of victim and bystander, barriers to reporting, social influences (group size, fear of retaliation, homophobia), knowledge of how to report, perception of administrative support, and lastly the presence or absence of a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA).; Data Sources; This study examined the reporting attitudes and behaviors of a large sample of high school students, both heterosexual and homosexual. As indicated in the research design, the sample was drawn from three large southern California high schools. The sample contained both male and female, heterosexual and homosexual students, and four grade levels. The sample included a variety of ethnic groups, socio-economic groups, and student interest groups. The researchers' goal was to obtain between 200 and 400 responses by use of paper and pen surveys to draw valid and reliable conclusions from a total of app