Advancing Human Security
What role do social norms play in interactions between civil servants when it comes to administrative sanctions? Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church explores this question, based on a participatory systems analysis of Ugandan civil servants (commissioned by SUGAR).
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In this post, Alexandra De Filippo and Humma Sheikh talk about how practitioners can make edutainment effective to change corrupt behaviors with underlying complex motivations. The post throws light on a three step based approach based on behavioral science to develop effective communication content aimed at shifting behaviors.
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Research Associate Cori Simmons curates a list of key resources exploring the role of social norms among public authorities. We know that public authorities, like anyone else, are influenced by pressures and expectations – but if it’s your boss pressuring you, can we call that a social norm? Read more for what the literature has to say on this.
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In this post, Dhaval Kothari provides a curated list of published literature which will give you an insight into different M&E tools and methods adopted in various projects focusing on social norms change. This list is intended to help practitioners and organizations use the existing wisdom as a starting point to formulate their respective M&E frameworks for social norms change.
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Social norms theory is picking up steam in the anti-corruption sector, appearing more widely and deeply in the anti-corruption ecosystem of workshops, conferences, literature, and blogs. We’re excited and intrigued by the questions being raised – read on to hear our thoughts on it.
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By Hope Schaitkin. Research tells us that that corruption-mainstreaming amplifies the impact of our development programming, and helps us avoid unwittingly contributing to or encouraging corrupt behavior. But why hasn’t corruption-mainstreaming gained the same ground as conflict sensitivity or gender within development organizations and programming? Read on to learn about three entry points for mainstreaming corruption in your organization’s development programming – from the perspective of a young development professional.
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By Mark Pyman. In countries enduring high levels of corruption, whether related to conflict or instability, it is easy to see endemic corruption as something overarching, requiring similarly broad reform strategies. However, my experience in Afghanistan suggests the opposite; anti-corruption strategies need to be tailored to the specific enablers and drivers of each particular sector.
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Social norms exist within a group. They represent mutual expectations, not just common beliefs, within the group about what is the right way to behave in a particular situation. And it is the approval, disapproval or other social sanction from the members of the group that helps ensure compliance with the norm. Therefore, understanding the group — who is in and who is out — matters for programming.
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By Hope Schaitkin. New material on social norms change seems to be appearing every week. It can be hard to keep up with it, let alone adapt an ongoing program based on new insights. Here is our short list of recently published and evidence focused must-reads.
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By Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church and Hope Schaitkin. There is increasing interest in understanding the role social norms play in maintaining corrupt patterns of behavior. Research from other fields has shown that social norms can act as the brake on behavior change, thus acting as the block to enduring change. While less is known about how to integrate social norm change into effective anti-corruption programming, other sectors are advancing this practice and anti-corruption practitioners can benefit from what they have learned.
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