Identifying and Embedding Brokers into a Multi-tiered System of Services to Reduce the Bystander Effect Leading to a Reduction in School Violence

As submitted by the applicant: Youth violence continues to be a significant concern in US schools, yet no study has utilized network brokers nor have they embedded brokers into a MTSS to reduce school violence. The purpose of this study is to empirically test a promising technological method that first identifies and directly involves brokers in a multi-tiered school anti-violence model. Different aspects of the MTSS model will be implemented based on tiers (or level) of need (aka Universal, Selective, and Intensive interventions), each of which will involve peer brokers. This project will be applied to over 1,000 students from different ages across a four-year period and will identify key peers necessary to mitigate the bystander effect, thus promoting social resiliency among those with whom they interact. Campbell County School District will partner with a research team from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center along with grant consultants specializing in social analysis network as well as bullying and the bystander effect. In addition, the district will partner with the Kentucky Center for School Safety. Research will be conducted to determine if brokers are the key agents in optimal school violence prevention outcomes. The team will test the use of multi-tiered anti-violence programs. The team will then determine if one of the mechanisms leading to reduced violence incidences is increased social resiliency. Finally, the team will determine if these resiliency factors are explained by inclusion of brokers in the prevention program. This study will involve schools from 2 separate school districts in the Northern Kentucky region. The team will have yearly access to objective school violence data for each of the schools, both at the district level as well as targeted schools within the district. The two school districts that were selected are similar to number of schools in the district, school enrollment size, demographic variables, and school violence incidences. In addition to objective data, network data as well as self- and peer-reported data will be collected during the fall semester of each academic year. In total, this 4-year, longitudinal study will analyze data from over 2,000 students, of which over 1,000 will receive the violence prevention curriculum. ca/ncf