Evaluating mentors in violence prevention: a longitudinal, multilevel assessment of outcome changes

There is a need to increase understanding of the effectiveness of bystander programmes targeting gender-based violence in the United Kingdom. There is also a need to utilise a robust theoretical models of decision-making while doing so. Changes were examined in bystanders’ attitudes, beliefs, motivations towards intervening, and intervention behavior in situations of gender-based violence. To achieve this, a quantitative examination of Mentors in Violence Prevention was conducted. There were 1396 participants (50% female, 50% male) who were aged 11 to 14 years old (M = 12.25, SD = 0.84) attending high school at the first time point. Participants were attending 17 schools (53% Mentors in Violence Prevention and 47% control) in Scotland. Outcome variables were assessed approximately one year apart using questionnaires. Multilevel linear regressions revealed that Mentors in Violence Prevention did not change outcomes reflecting bystanders’ attitudes, beliefs, motivations towards intervening, or intervention behavior in gender-based violence. Discrepancies between the current findings and those of other evaluations may be due to other studies including small numbers of schools that may be more motivated to implement the program. This study also identified two key issues that need to be addressed at stakeholder level before concluding that Mentors in Violence Prevention is ineffective at targeting gender-based violence. That the program has moved towards a more gender-neutral approach in the United Kingdom could explain the null results of this study. Furthermore, the current findings could be attributed to a failure to adequately address the theoretical model underpinning the program in practice.