Changing cultural and social norms that support violence

1 Changing cultural and social norms that support violence Series of briefings on violence prevention This briefing for advocates, programme designers and implementers and others is one of a seven-part series on the evidence for interventions to prevent interpersonal and self-directed violence . The other six briefings look at reducing access to lethal means;. increasing safe, stable and nurturing relationships between children and their parents and caregivers; develop ing life skills in children and adolescents; reducing availabil- ity and misuse of alcohol; promoting gender equality; and victim identification, care and support . For a searchable evidence base on interventions to prevent violence , please go to: For a library of violence prevention publications, including the other briefings in this series, please go to: WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Changing cultural and social norms supportive of violent behaviour.

2 (Series of briefings on violence prevention: the evidence). prevention and control. violence prevention and control. behavior. policy. Health Organization. ISBN 978 92 4 159833 0 (NLM classification: HV 6625). World Health Organization 2009. All rights reserved. Publications of the World Health Organization can be obtained from WHO Press, World Health Organization, 20. Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (tel.: +41 22 791 3264; fax: +41 22 791 4857; e-mail: Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications whether for sale or for noncommercial distribution should be addressed to WHO Press, at the above address (fax: +41 22 791 4806; e-mail: The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.))

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4 Rules or expectations of behaviour norms within a cultural or social group can encourage violence . Interventions that challenge cultural and social norms supportive of violence can prevent acts of violence and have been widely used. This briefing describes how cultural and social norms can support violence , gives examples of interventions that aim to alter such norms and identifies the main challenges to rigorously evaluating such interventions. Interventions often target intimate partner and youth violence . Some aim to reduce dating violence and sexual abuse among teenagers and young adults by challenging attitudes and norms related to gender that, for instance, allow men control over women. Many work with male peer groups, acknowledging the strong influence that young adults can have on each others' behaviour. A common approach aims to correct misperceptions that people may have of the attitudes and behaviour of others.

5 Mass media campaigns, including education through entertainment (edutainment), have also been used to challenge norms supportive of violence . Laws and policies can assist in altering norms linked to violence . Laws and policies that make violent behaviour an offence send a message to society that it is not acceptable. While nearly all governments around the world have laws against most forms of homicide, recently more governments have begun to enact and implement laws against non-lethal intimate partner violence . More rigorous evaluations of interventions that address social norms are needed. Studies that evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that challenge norms supportive of violence are rare. Rigorous evaluations of such interventions are feasible, but they face a number of challenges, including clearly isolating the effects of the interventions from possible confounding factors and poor understanding of the mechanisms underlying changes in cultural and social norms .

6 1. Introduction cultural and social norms are highly influential in prevent violent behaviour. Although widely used, shaping individual behaviour, including the use of they have rarely been evaluated. Given the current violence . norms can protect against violence , but weak evidence base, it is premature to review their they can also support and encourage the use of it. effectiveness. The aim of this briefing, therefore, is For instance, cultural acceptance of violence , ei- to encourage increased efforts to implement and ther as a normal method of resolving conflict or as evaluate well-designed interventions that chal- a usual part of rearing a child, is a risk factor for lenge cultural and social norms which support vio- all types of interpersonal violence (1). It may also lence. Accordingly, this briefing: help explain why countries experiencing high levels Defines cultural and social norms and illus- of one type of violence also experience increased trates how they support violence .

7 Levels of other types (2). social tolerance of violent Provides examples of interventions that seek behaviour is likely learned in childhood, through to alter these norms ; and the use of corporal punishment (2) or witnessing Identifies the main challenges faced by eval- violence in the family (3,4), in the media (5) or in uations of the effectiveness of such interven- other settings. tions. Interventions that challenge cultural and social norms supportive of violence can help reduce and Changing cultural and social norms that support violence 3. 2. cultural and social norms that support violence cultural and social norms are rules or expectations including sexual violence , as a private affair hin- of behaviour within a specific cultural or social ders outside intervention and prevents those af- group. Often unspoken, these norms offer social fected from speaking out and gaining support (11). standards of appropriate and inappropriate be- In many societies, victims of sexual violence also haviour, governing what is (and is not) acceptable feel stigmatized, which inhibits reporting (12).

8 And co-ordinating our interactions with others (6). Additionally, strong evidence of an association cultural and social norms persist within society be- between alcohol consumption and violent behav- cause of individuals' preference to conform, given iour means that cultural and social norms around the expectation that others will also conform (7). alcohol use and its expected effects can also en- A variety of external and internal pressures are courage and justify violent acts. In a number of thought to maintain cultural and social norms (6). countries, harmful alcohol use is estimated to be Thus, individuals are discouraged from violating responsible for 26% of male and 16% of female norms by the threat of social disapproval or pun- disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs1) lost as a re- ishment and feelings of guilt and shame that result sult of homicide (13). Societies that tolerate higher from the internalization of norms .

9 Rates of acute alcohol intoxication report stronger cultural and social norms do not necessarily relationships between alcohol use and violence correspond with an individual's attitudes (positive than those where drinking occurs more moderately or negative feelings towards an object or idea) and (14). Furthermore, alcohol-related violence is con- beliefs (perceptions that certain premises are true), sidered more likely in cultures where many believe although they may influence these attitudes and that alcohol plays a positive role by helping people beliefs if norms becomes internalized. cultural and to shed their inhibitions (15). Here, alcohol can be social norms also vary widely; so, behaviour ac- used as a justification for violent behaviour, or con- ceptable to one social group, gang or culture may sumed to fuel the courage needed to commit vio- not be tolerated in another. lent crimes. Interventions that tackle the cultural Different cultural and social norms support dif- and social norms underlying risky drinking behav- ferent types of violence , as illustrated in Box 1.

10 For iour and social expectations surrounding alcohol instance, traditional beliefs that men have a right can help in preventing violence (16,17). For more in- to control or discipline women through physical formation on the relationship between alcohol and means makes women vulnerable to violence by inti- violence , see the briefing in this series on prevent- mate partners (8,9) and places girls at risk of sexual ing violence by reducing the availability and harmful abuse (10). Equally, cultural acceptance of violence , use of alcohol. A DALY is a measure of the impact of illness, disability and 1. mortality on population health. 4 violence prevention: the evidence Box 1. cultural and social norms supporting different types of violence Child maltreatment L Female children are valued less in society than males ( Peru [18], where female children are considered to have less social and economic potential). L Children have a low status in society and within the family ( Guatemala [19]).