#SAAM: CPPD Uses Atypical Instructor Training for Bystander Intervention

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (NNS) -- A team of master trainers from the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) conducted its latest Bystander Intervention train-the-trainer class April 17-18 for Navy instructors in the San Antonio area.

CPPD's Master Train-the¬-Trainer Teams (MTTTs) have been qualifying Navy instructors to teach Bystander Intervention (BI) at all Navy "A" schools as part of Sailors' Navy Military Training after-hours curricula. Bystander Intervention training is part of a broader Navy strategy to address changes in attitudes and behaviors about sexual assault. The training is delivered to A-school students to educate them on their responsibilities to intervene in situations of possible assault or sexual assault and that, as leaders, it is their responsibility to act. They are being trained not as potential perpetrators or victims of sexual assault, but as bystanders who can and will intervene with other Sailors when they encounter risky situations.

CPPD currently has nine Navy civilian and active duty instructors qualified to facilitate a Bystander Intervention MTTT, with each team consisting of two people. The team in San Antonio provided training to 23 Sailors assigned as instructors at Navy Medicine Training Center (NMTC), Navy Medicine Training Support Center (NMTSC) or Naval Technical Training Center (NTTC) Lackland. The Sailors trained to teach Bystander Intervention ranged in paygrade from E-5 to E-7 with their years of service ranging from nearly six to 19 years, which is a typical class makeup. Upon completion of the class, the instructors are qualified to facilitate Bystander Intervention training with groups of "A" school students.

"The Department of the Navy averages three sexual assaults a day," said MTTT Facilitator Gary Webster, who also works at CPPD headquarters as a training instructor. "This is a problem, and we have to change this. With Bystander Intervention training, we have the ability to stamp out this problem."

CPPD worked with a civilian contractor to develop Bystander Intervention training tailored to a Navy environment. "This training is not like any other the Navy's done," said Senior Chief Interior Communications Electrician (SW/AW) Claudia Seawright, CPPD Bystander Intervention Training Course manager, who is also the command's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response point of contact. "There are no powerpoint slides; no formalized student guide in which to take notes. Instead, students are led through a facilitated discussion. They are asked to move around the room and to take a position on issues like what really constitutes consent to sex and what happens to that consent when alcohol is involved."

Seawright said that it is sometimes challenging to get people to understand the level of the Navy's sexual assault problem. "We have to get everyone to understand that this is a problem in the Navy, and we need everyone's help to stop it, from the most junior Sailors to the most senior Sailors," she said.

With a focus primarily on leadership, Bystander Intervention training begins with an introduction exercise in which students provide a word that describes a positive leadership trait. Words usually making the list include mentor, reliable, trustworthy and good communicator. Facilitators then refer to the students' list throughout the training in pointing out that it can be hard to report something, but leaders must do what's right vice what's easy. "We have to recognize the problem and use leadership skills to fix it," said Chief Hospital Corpsman (SW/AW/FMF) Edgar Nunez, an instructor with NMTC who attended the San Antonio Bystander Intervention MTTT class.

"You have to sometimes step in and use these leadership traits to intervene in a situation of a Sailor being abused - or being the abuser," said MTTT Facilitator Tracee Dozier, also a CPPD knowledge management program analyst.

Facilitators make the point that bystanders aren't just people who stand on the sidelines and watch but are instead people in a circle of influence who can address an issue - such as a family member, friend, coworker and shipmate. "Bystanders have power," said Dozier. "They can either escalate or de-escalate a situation."

Most people witnessing a crime in the United States choose not to get involved, she said. Bystander Intervention training focuses on providing students with options to act. "Doing nothing is not an option - we can always do something," Dozier said.

One of the more engaging parts of Bystander Intervention training for students are the Agree-Disagree-Unsure (ADU) exercises. During one of these exercises, a facilitator reads a broad question and asks students to physically show their position on the question by standing on a designated side of the room indicating if they agree, disagree or are unsure about the question. Then students are asked why they made that choice. One such question is, "There is a serious problem of some men being abusive toward women in this country."

Facilitators do not provide personal opinions or pass judgment on student statements, instead guiding students' responses to cover essential teaching points. Often, students share highly personal details of their lives such as growing up in an abusive home. These personal insights provide a deeper look at complex issues tackled in the Bystander Intervention training.

The training also addresses the importance of language in relationships and how it influences our thoughts and feelings. Commonly used words glamorized in today's society, such as slang or curse words, may not seem offensive to some, but can be highly offensive to others. "Words have power," said Gunner's Mate 1st Class (SW) Kyle Farley, an instructor at NTTC Lackland who attended the San Antonio MTTT class. "Sometimes they have more lasting effect and power than actions."

Making a point that the context of a word can change its meaning - and degree of offensiveness - Webster said it's important that students understand the effect in every context because, "Language is the lowest level at which we can attack this problem of sexual assault."

Bystander Intervention training tackles many complex issues such as the commonly held belief that an assault is none of a bystander's business, the legal and "street" definition of self defense, implicit and explicit consent, appropriate versus inappropriate behaviors, and behaviors of people in healthy versus unhealthy relationships. Facilitators present realistic scenarios for discussion during which students talk about their feelings and beliefs regarding violence, sexual assault and what they can do to intervene in a potentially volatile situation.

The training sometimes brings up traumatic experiences for students, something that facilitators must know how to handle. "We're not clinical psychologists but we are leaders," said Dozier. "We can refer and get people to the right resources. We can always do something to help a Sailor get the necessary assistance."

The training often sparks spirited discussion not only in the classroom but in home or social settings, according to Seawright. "On the second day of the MTTT when the students come back from talking with spouses, for example, they are often excited about the training," she said. "During the healthy and unhealthy relationships discussion, it's often easy for students to come up with unhealthy aspects of a relationship but harder to come up with healthy aspects of relationships. It's a real eye-opener for some people, and they say they plan to use that learning experience in their own personal relationships."

Bystander Intervention training provides Sailors with options to act and emphasizes that the only wrong option is to do nothing. Master-at-Arms 1st Class (SW) Jonathan Mason, an instructor assigned to NTTC Lackland who attended the San Antonio MTTT, expressed disbelief that a bystander wouldn't choose to act. "It blows my mind that someone isn't willing to make a phone call," he said. "That's what gets me about a bystander not acting - it's just one phone call."

"In my time as a sexual assault victim advocate, I've seen a lot of sexual assault cases," said Master-at-Arms 1st Class (SW/AW) Nanette Perkins, an instructor at NTTC Lackland's Naval Corrections Academy who attended the San Antonio MTTT. "I'm glad to see all the (military) services being so proactive about stopping sexual assault."

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response is an important element of the readiness area of the 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative that consolidates a set of objectives and policies, new and existing, to maximize Sailor and Marine personal readiness, build resiliency and hone the most combat-effective force in the history of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Department of the Navy is working to aggressively prevent sexual assaults, to support sexual assault victims, and to hold offenders accountable.

Help raise awareness by joining the conversation on social media using #SAAM.

For more information about Bystander Intervention training, visit https://wwwa.nko.navy.mil/portal/leadership/home/navybystanderintervention(navybi).

For more information about the Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cppd/.

Like CPPD on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Personal-and-Professional-Development/100056459206.

For more news from Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit www.navy.mil/local/voledpao/.