Prevention Education and Advocacy Center (PEACe)

Developing Skills to Intervene

(Princeton University, 2018)

When you know how to intervene safely and comfortably, you will be more likely to intervene to help others.

• Stay safe when intervening
• How to intervene effectively
• Remember the "3 D's" of intervention: Distract, Direct, Delegate

Try these tips to ensure you stay safe:

• Recruit friends or faculty/staff to help
• Approach others in a friendly, relaxed manner
• Avoid using violence
• Call 911 for help if violence or harm seems unavoidable

Once your safety is assured, you can focus on keeping a friend, acquaintance or stranger safe, too. Taking action to help others is how we create a vibrant, healthy and engaged community. When you intervene effectively, the outcomes are incredible—for you and for SIUE.

Try these suggestions to intervene effectively:

• Trust your gut! If the behavior worries you, someone probably needs you to intervene.
• Get creative with your interventions! It does not have to work perfectly every time, but the important thing is that you DO SOMETHING, however silly or unplanned.
• Improve your skills and learn more about bystander intervention by requesting a bystander intervention workshop and attending Green Dot trainings, posted on our webpage. You can be ready to act when the need arises.

Remember the “3 Ds” (Alteristic, 2018):

Distract: Create a distraction or redirect a person’s attention

• Redirect the focus of those involved to let the situation cool down.
• Use humor or an excuse, if it’s appropriate, to divert the attention of the person(s) engaging in the problematic behavior.

For example:

• You can spill a drink on either person involved in the problematic behavior.
• Act like you are lost and ask for directions or to be walked to the location.
• Pretend that you know one of the people and start talking about the class you’re in together.

Direct: Confront the harmful behavior directly

• Step in to separate the individuals and use assertive language.
• Use an assertive communication style to call out the problem and stand your ground, without resorting to aggression. For example:
  • Ask the person experiencing the problematic behavior if they are okay.
    • “Are you alright?”
    • “Can I call someone for you?”
    • “Let’s step outside for a minute for some air.”
  • Tell the person causing the problematic behavior to stop.
    • “That is not appropriate to do here.”
    • “You are making them uncomfortable, so it’s time to stop.”

Delegate: Seek assistance from others

Ask others to get involved to help take charge of the situation. For example, you can call on:

• • Friends/family
  • Classmates/peers in student orgs or other programs
  • Faculty/staff/administrators
  • Campus or community police departments
• Familiarize yourself with the full range of resources available to you in an emergency and during business hours.