Everybody Wants to Belong: A Practical Guide to Tackling and Leveraging Social Norms in Behavior Change Programming

When collective practices are partly driven by informal rules of behaviour in a group - social norms - they warrant very specific interventions. This guide from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) explores this specificity. Originally published in 2018, it provides information on social norms, the role they play in perpetuating or changing harmful behaviours, and best practices for programming. The elements provided can, for instance, serve as methodological support during workshops and trainings organised with partners engaged in social and behaviour change (SBC) endeavours to collectively explore and learn how to characterise, leverage, and change norms.

According to UNICEF, social expectations play a significant role in perpetuating harmful behaviours that stand in the way of realising human rights, especially in areas such as child protection, early childhood development, adolescent development, and gender equity. Even though the development community at large may recognise that programming focused on changing individuals is not sufficient, several challenges have impeded progress on attention to SBC to date, including: hesitancy to engage in a field perceived as theoretically complex and hard to master; sensitivities related to the ethics of shifting norms that are inextricably tied to cultural and social identity; difficulty in planning and resources for SBC activities; lack of data that properly inform and measure the main drivers of behaviour; lack of support to integrate social norms theories into practical application on the ground; and a general lack of knowledge around the importance of social norms. This publication is meant to help overcome these challenges.

The guide gathers 24 tools and provides concrete examples, step-by-step instructions, tips, and techniques that have been used in real-world settings. It is adaptable across a wide range of contexts and topics. The tools are organised in 4 complementary sections:

1. Think (tools 1-5): explores the theory behind behaviour change and social norms programming, explains how norms impact what people do, and helps practitioners identify and profile those norms among other motivational factors, map social networks, and conceive a phased approach towards change.
2. Plan (tools 6-14): gives key steps to build and budget an evidence-based programme to address normative behaviours, following a holistic pathway and moving away from "intuition-driven" interventions. It puts forth basic principles to ensure data is generated and used throughout the life of the programme.
3. Act (tools 15-19): covers the implementation and continuous adjustment of the programme, focusing on participatory community deliberations and embracing best practices for scaling-up (see, e.g., the tip sheet on page 84). It also provides principles and insights to avoid biases and blind spots.
4. Dig (tools 20-24): offers resources to deepen curiosity, inspire, and learn further.

An example of one practical tool is the "sanity check for developing communication materials" provided on pages 80-81. Advice is provided in the areas of: content (e.g., avoid showing women as victims or powerless, regardless of the situation); language (e.g., avoid blaming or accusing when developing dialogue on critical topics); illustration (e.g., portray scenes that are familiar to the audience); and design (e.g., provide relevant contact details related to the programme or campaign - but only if safe for those involved).

UNICEF stresses that practitioners should tailor advice provided in the guide to their local context, "with the ethical commitment to protect participants and local communities through honesty, deliberation and participation towards voluntary change."