PROTECTION OF FAMILY’S DIGNITY BY ABANDONING BABIES IN
KAZAKHSTAN
“Each Child is our Child” campaign
A paper for a 2013 Summer Program on Advances in Social Norms and Social Change
of the University of Pennsylvania and UNICEF, July 2013.
By Radoslaw Rzehak
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In Kazakhstan every year more than 2,000 children are deprived of parental care and placed in the
state child care institutions. Currently more than 1,500 children of age 0-3 are placed in infant homes.
65% of these children were abandoned soon after a birth, some of them because of existing social
norms in traditional communities as it is not allowed socially to have an out-of-marriage child. All
those children are denied of their basic rights, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
including the right to grow up in a family environment, to education, health or to protection from
harm. The situation of children living in state care institutions is disturbing; institutionalization – no
matter how well intentioned – hinders intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. Small
children who are institutionalized before the age of six months suffer long term developmental delay.
UNICEF promotes right of a child to grow up in family environment and advocates for reforming the
current child care system based on institutionalization into more family oriented forms of care. With
its enhanced focus on equity, UNICEF addresses the interest of the most vulnerable segments of the
society, therefore, young women abandoning children born out-of-marriage due to real or imagined
fear from the social sanctions are part of UNICEF's concern. In its programming UNICEF pays a lot
of attention to developing of strong legal framework as well as building national capacity in support
of the child care system reform. The area of UNICEF’s work is also addressing social norms which
contribute to the ongoing institutionalization of children.
Many young women from small cities and villages travel to bigger cities seeking higher education
and/or employment. Usually they stay in the urban areas temporarily to finish the higher education or
to earn money allowing them to return to own communities and start a new family life. Changing the
living environment exposes young girls to new opportunities and challenges related to loosening of
social/parental control like alcohol, random sex or night life and some of them get pregnant in out-ofmarriage relations. According to the social norms of traditional communities, if a young woman
delivers a baby not being married, or a father is not form the same community, she would be
sanctioned by exclusion from the family and community using shame, cutting family connections and
withdrawal of family’s economic assistance.
Therefore, following the empirical and normative expectations of such community women decide to
abandon own children at the hospital hoping that it would allow them still to establish family within
own community. Their decisions are motivated by believes that all women in similar situation would
act the same and that their reference network (parents, neighbors, peers) are expecting them to
abandon children to protect the community from shame. A young woman follows a script of a good
wife and mother written for her by the previous generations. She may not agree with a decision to
Page 1 of 17
abandon an own child but a fear of the reaction from own family and community sanctions prevail
over the love to own child.
Therefore, to remedy the current harmful practice it would be desirable to creating, within the
traditional communities, a new social norm in which a rejection of a baby born from unmarried young
women would be sanctioned by community. The aim would be to create situation where parents has
moral obligation to support own daughter who got pregnant in out-of-marriage relations while a social
norm of condemning unmarried sex would be maintained. Changing the social norm would have a
sustainable impact on the reduction of baby abandonment, thus, the Government’s action would be
redirected towards supporting the vulnerable mother in prevention of abandonment instead, as it takes
place now, dealing with the consequences of baby abandonment through maintaining an expensive
and harmful public child care system.
There are several interventions required to set a new social norm. It would need to start from
convincing an influential core group of the traditional community to stimulate the values
deliberations during which the current social norms would be discussed. Hopefully it would lead to
the organized diffusion when wider community would start challenging existing norms creating
situation where enough community members would be ready to change the social norm until the wide
consensus for changing a social norm would be achieved. Thus, this paper analyses possibilities of
changing the current social norm leading to baby abandonment towards the abandonment of out-ofmarriages children and suggests possible interventions in the process of change.
Kazakhstan, being an upper middle income country, has already developed strong state public system,
therefore, changing of social norms should be conducted in a context of wider social/child protection
system reform, including relevant legislative reforms and delivering required social services. An
external support, like of UNICEF’s, shall be directed to demonstrate best feasible approaches so the
Government would be confident its national replication.
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
In Kazakhstan every year more than 2,000 children are deprived of parental care and placed in the
state institutions. Currently more than 1,500 children of age 0-3 are placed in infant homes in the
country. 65% of these children have no parents as they were abandoned soon after a birth and need
family care and home environment. Still other 35% of children have parents or single mothers who
can’t care for them due to the lack of parental skills, rejections from own families, poor living or
housing conditions, or lack of proper social and medical services to address child’s disability. If
children are not adopted they are transferred to orphanages and in case of children with disabilities to
psycho-neurological dispensaries or psychiatric hospitals.
All those children are denied of their basic rights, enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, including the right to grow up in a family environment, to education, health or to protection
from harm. The international studies and practice proves that the situation of children living in state
care institutions is disturbing; institutionalization – no matter how well intentioned – hinders
intellectual, physical, emotional and social development 1. Many institutionalized children in
Kazakhstan spend their entire infancy, childhood and adolescence in institutions, losing all contact
with their families. Children who leave the institutions at age of 18 are more likely to be unemployed,
poor, in trouble with the law, and they are more vulnerable to exploitation such as trafficking and
sexual abuse.
Small children who are institutionalized before the age of six months suffer long term developmental
delay. It is scientifically proved that those who are placed in a caring family environment by the age
of 6 months will recover and catch up on their physical and cognitive development. Improvements are
seen in cognitive ability when children are removed from institutional care at an early age and placed
1
UNICEF CEE/CIS and UNHCHR “End placing children under three years in institutions: A call to Action”
(http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/unicefceecis/unicef-a-call-to-action/1)
Page 2 of 17
in a family. However, difficulties with social behavior and attachments may persist, leading to a
greater chance of antisocial behavior and mental health problems 2.
The inclusion of children with disabilities into communities continues to be a serious concern. There
are about 150,000 children with disabilities (the figure is most likely underestimated) and only 38%
have access to education or day care services. Around 12,000 children with special needs and 1,000
with severe disabilities are accommodated in residential institutions or special-needs schools designed
for disabled or mentally handicapped students. Out of 45,800 children with severe disabilities only
2,000 children in 2010 got access to specialized social services. Public attitudes remain extremely
negative and discrimination frequently leads to social and economic exclusion both for the child and
family. Institutionalization and special education schools remain the dominant choice for special
education students. Children with special needs who graduate from specialized boarding schools are
sometimes housed in institutions for the elderly as there is no place for them to go.
Reasons for baby abandonment
Based on the UNICEF's study made in Kazakhstan 3 the main reasons for baby abandonment are:
- Poverty
- Dysfunctional family
- Lack of external support
- Abandonment family by a father of a child
- Lack of housing
- Having a child with disability
- Traditional believes of “Nomad” 4 population (pressure from the relatives)
For the purpose of this paper the abandonment of babies due to a fear of family’s sanctions related to
out of marriage pregnancy would be a main focus.
Chart: When did a thought of child abandonment first come to your mind? (research among mothers done in
one Region of Kazakhstan) (% respondents) 5
Sometimes
after the child
was born, 65.6
Immediately
after the child
was born, 6.3
I have
abandoned my
child, 28.1
UNICEF equity focus
For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop, and reach their
full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. This interpretation is consistent with the
2
UNICEF CEE/CIS Study “At home or in a home? Formal care and adoption of children in Eastern Europe and Central
Asia” (http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/At_home_or_in_a_home_report.pdf)
3
Public Union Centre «Family», “Study on the causes of child abandonment (age 0-3) in Karaganda oblast”, UNICEF
Kazakhstan 2012
4
In Kazakhstan majority of population are ethnic Kazakhs (63.1%), ethnic Russians (23.7%), with a rich array of other
groups represented, including Tatars (1.3%), Ukrainians (2.1%), Uzbeks (2.8%), Belarusians, Uyghurs (1.4%), Azerbaijanis,
Poles, and Lithuanians, thus, for the purpose of this paper a term “Nomad” would refer to all ethnic groups who strongly
belief that having a child out of marriage is consist shame for the family.
5
Public Union Centre «Family», “Study on the causes of child abandonment (age 0-3) in Karaganda oblast”, UNICEF
Kazakhstan 2012
Page 3 of 17
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guarantees the fundamental rights of every child,
regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, income, physical attributes, geographical location, or
other status. Inequities generally arise when certain population groups are unfairly deprived of basic
resources that are available to other groups. Gender discrimination and other social, political, and
economic forces that systematically deny the rights of specific groups - such as girls, children of
minority groups, or children with disabilities - are cause for grave concern from an equity perspective.
The aim of equity-focused policies is to eliminate the unfair and avoidable circumstances that deprive
children of their rights. An equity-based approach to UNICEF’s programs and policies seeks to
understand and address the root causes of inequity so that all children, particularly those who suffer
the worst deprivations in society, have access to education, health care, sanitation, clean water,
protection, and other services necessary for their survival, growth, and development 6.
In this paper, a better understanding of root causes of the baby abandonment phenomenon would
allow better diagnoses of the reasons behind such dramatic decisions of young women. In Kazakhstan
being a single mother, due to lack of existing support services, is already a very strong factor for baby
abandonment. However, if a single mother comes from a very tradition family, where having an outof-marriage child is considered a shame, she is expected to abandon an “unwanted” baby. The
situation is getting more challenging if a child has disabilities. Having a child with disabilities become
an additional strong push factor for the abandonment. Thus, having a baby as a single young woman
makes a woman very vulnerable but having a baby with disabilities as a single young woman form the
“Nomad” communities increases significantly a woman’s vulnerability level.
An equity pyramid of baby abandonment in Kazakhstan:
A single young woman having a child
A single Nomad young woman
from a small village having a child
staying away from her traditional
family
A single Nomad young
woman from a small village
having a child with disabilties
staying away from her
traditional family
Up to date progress in Kazakhstan in prevention of baby abandonment
Protection of child rights is slowly gaining higher priority in policies and practices of the
Government. During last ten years over 100 laws related to the child protection and child care were
adopted. They are the Family Code, “Children of Kazakhstan” program, Health Development
Program “Healthy Kazakhstan”, Law on specialized social services, etc. The social services and ten
different cash benefits are being introduced to support families in upbringing children. In addition,
twenty-six ‘groups of hope' were established around the country as government run services at the
infant homes allowing mothers at risk to review the decision about the child’s abandonment. As a
result, during 2000-2012 the number of children of 0-3 age in state run institutions was reduced by
40%. Despite the fact that parents counseling programs were delivered to up bring children of early
age, family wellbeing remains a challenge. New economic relations and modern family values deepen
differences between various income groups of population. The right of child to be in the family
environment is violated due to the mother’s inability to care about the child. In 2012 with the support
from UNICEF, three regions in Kazakhstan (Astana, Karaganda and East) started developing a model
6
http://intranet.unicef.org/iconhome.nsf/1033ed9773ce3c1e8525756900783ac9/826d623781643247852577ee0071e177?Ope
nDocument#II.%20DEFINITIONS
Page 4 of 17
program on prevention of child abandonment with a focus on integrated multi-disciplinary approach
to delivery of practical support to families with young children, early identify child’s developmental
delays and assist families with children with disabilities of 0-3 age 7.
Up to date work on addressing social norms as regards baby abandonment in Kazakhstan
The Kazakhstani leaders (politicians, spiritual leaders, role models) advocate for the socio-economic
development with the objective to place Kazakhstan among top 30 countries in the world by 2050.
This agenda unfortunately does not leave much space for “left behind” traditional communities,
especially as they are not influential ones (living in very remote places, not contributing much to the
GDP). Therefore, the so far approach of the Government was concentrated on setting up a legal
framework for expected behavior and absorbing costs related to the baby abandonment (child care
institutions, adoption, cash assistance to single mothers) without addressing the actual root causes of
baby abandonment.
The localized social norms are considered as “village people thinking” so not getting enough of
attention of modernized city communities (including the Government). So far UNICEF’s approach
was mostly focus on upstream work for introducing legal changes, policies, new services. But not it is
crucial to better understand actual social norms behind the decision to abandon a baby.
There were a number of attempts to change public altitudes mostly through national TV public
campaigns and press articles. It turned to be effective in convincing the policy makers as well as
educated city population (what is also very important), however, it has not reached rural population
and poorer households. It was mostly due to a fact that the communication messages were not
appropriate to those two groups. Also, as there is still a lack of proper child protection and social
services, the poorer segments of the population even if they would be convinced that baby
abandonment is wrong they would not be economically and psychologically assisted in changing their
decision on the abandonment.
Furthermore, so far undertaken interventions were mostly mother-to-be and young mother oriented.
The young mothers at risk of abandonment were being convinced not to abandon. Some young
mother are being provided with support assistance like shelters, cash, vocational training. There is
even emerging a new social norm among urban communities condemning baby abandonment.
However, most of the interventions have not included parents of the young mothers at risk as well as
there was no intervention targeting the fathers of the abandoned babies – even if they are key actors in
the identified problem.
Socio-cultural and economic context
Young women from small cities and villages travel to bigger cities to seek higher education and/or
employment. Usually, their stay in the urban areas is seen as temporary to finish the school or to get
income allowing them to return to own communities to start a new family life. Changing the living
environment exposes young girls to new opportunities and challenges related to loosening of
social/parental control like alcohol, random sex or night life. In addition, most of such young women
come from low income families, thus, their social and economic aspirations rapidly growing while
living in the cities. Sex (random or with older/richer partners) seems for them to be a solution for
increase own social and economic status in short time. This new style of life could be easy hidden
from seldom visiting members of family/community or during rare visits home.
Abortions and use of contraceptives
The level of sex and family planning education in Kazakhstan is still very limited and basically nonexisting within the rural communities. Use of contraceptives is little known and shameful. Despite the
fact that contraceptives are now widely available in Kazakhstan (especially in the urban areas) young
people are embarrassed to purchase them and for some the cost of contraceptives is still a barrier. As
7
From the statement of the Government of Kazakhstan at the international conference “Ending the placement of children
under three in institutions: Support nurturing families for all young children”, Sofia, Bulgaria, 21-22 November, 2012.
Page 5 of 17
the abortion is legal in Kazakhstan and relatively not expensive, it became a common “contraceptive”
measure used. There is little consideration for health and moral aspects of abortions. However, due to
limited knowledge on sexual life many young girls find out about the pregnancy in later stages, thus,
late for abortions. In addition, a level of condoms use is still very low in Kazakhstan and man refuse
to use them, including when having sex with commercial sex workers 8. Thus, many young women are
forced by partners not to use condoms.
Religions and traditions
Majority of Kazakhstan’s population are Muslims, however, due to long-lasting Russian/Soviet rules
the religious beliefs got very weaken. Nevertheless, some of the previous religious beliefs become
customs still used by many “Nomad” communities. The social norm of married only within own
communities is also justified with historical fight to preserve the nations (cast) as territory of
Kazakhstan was often conquered by nations with very different values and tradition like Chinese
(Confucianism), Monglos, Arabs or Russians (Orthodox).
Chart: Who Was Anticipated to Support a young women in a Crisis Situation 9
Child’s father,
43.8
Relatives, 43.8
Parents, 18.8
Child’s father
Friends, 9.4
Parents
Relatives
Friends
Nobody, 18.8
Nobody
PART II: UNDERSTADING SOCIAL NORMS FRAMEWORK – SETTING THE BASIS FOR
A CHANGE
Using the definition of Cristina Bicchieri, the social norm is a rule of behavior such than individuals
prefer to conform to it on conditions that they believe that (i) most people in their relevant network
conform to it (empirical expectations); and (ii) most people in their relevant network believe they
ought to conform to it (normative expectations) 10.
In the discussed paper a social norm is that a young woman from “Nomad” community marry a man
(preferable older then her) from the same “Nomad” community. However, if a “Nomad” young
woman deliver a baby not being married, or a father is a “non-Nomad” man (or both) she would be
sanctioned by exclusion from the family and community using shame, cutting family connections and
withdrawal of family’s economic assistance. Thus, a young girl would be left “on her own” with
limited chances to get married and set up a new family.
Empirical expectations
Based on Bicchieri’s argument 11, people´s empirical expectations, referring to 'what one thinks
everyone else does', a young unmarried “Nomad’ woman giving a birth will abandon a child as
everybody does the same in a similar situation. If a born child has disabilities such decision is even
stronger motivated.
Thus, the empirical expectations could of a young mother, among others, be:
- Every “unwanted” baby is abandoned
8
Robin Haarr, “A Rapid Assessment of Children’s Vulnerabilities to Risky Behaviours, Sexual Exploitation and
Trafficking”, UNICEF Kazakhstan, 2012.
9
Public Union Centre «Family», “Study on the causes of child abandonment (age 0-3) in Karaganda oblast”, UNICEF
Kazakhstan 2012
10
Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press
11
Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press
Page 6 of 17
-
Every young women having a baby out-of-marriage leaves a child at the hospital
Every young women having a baby with disabilities gives it away to be cared by specialists
who know how to do it
Every young students having a baby abandon it to continue education
Normative expectations
Furthermore, following Bicchieri’s definition12 that normative expectations refer to the expectations
about what one thinks that other people expect one to do: a young unmarried women is convinced that
her family/community members believe that she should abandon a child upon delivery not to bring a
shame to the family and then she still could have chances to marry a “Nomad” man.
Thus, the normative expectations of a young mother could, among others, be:
- My parents think I should abandon a child if I am unmarried to protect the family from
community shame
- Everybody thinks that to finish my study I should abandon my child
- Everybody thinks I would not be able to look after a child with disability as this need to be
done by a specialist
Current social/child protection system in Kazakhstan is constructed to facilitate the mother’s decision
to abandon a child. The decision on abandonment could be taken at the maternity hospital by signing
a “baby rejection” document. Such action is socially accepted and a young mother would not be
blamed by others for doing it. Furthermore, with economic development of Kazakhstan, there is
number of families willing to adopt a new born child due to a strong social pressure (another social
norm) to have a first child within the first two years of marriage. Thus, wealthy families, who have
difficulties in having a child, pretend a pregnancy and are willing to pay informally to medical and
child protection staff for adoption of a new born baby. Therefore, the medial and child protection
services are financially (informal payments) stipulated to convince young mothers to abandon their
babies upon delivery. So the system not only facilitates the abandonment but also “fuel” it by
specialists with vested interest.
As regards the fathers of the abandoned babies, there is no social approval of their acts, however,
there is also no strong normative expectations which would make them not to abandon a woman with
a baby. Usually, a father leaves the young mother during the pregnancy and is not engaged into the
abandonment s process directly.
Factual believes
If by factual beliefs it is understood what one believes based on knowledge he/she possess, regardless
if the beliefs are true or false 13, thus, in discussed case factual beliefs could be:
- Her: I am too young for having a baby
- Her: I would not be able to care for a child on my own without a husband
- Her: My partners would kill me if they would find out I am pregnant with “non-Nomad” man
- Her: With a child nobody would marry me and I would be my entire life lonely
- Her: Something is wrong with me if I have born a child with disabilities
- Her: My child was born with disabilities as a punishment of out-of-marriage sex
- Him: I am too young for having a baby
- Him: It is a girl fault that she got pregnant and it is not my problem now
- Him: She would not be accepted by my family as good enough for my wife as she is only a
village girl
- Him: She is too poor for marriage as she would not contribute to my family
Most of the above beliefs are related to the lack of information on existing support services as well as
alternatives. Thus, to change the belief use of positive role models would be an important element of
12
13
Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press
Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press
Page 7 of 17
awareness campaign. Showing a young mother who had an unplanned baby and still was able to
receive support form own family, set up a new family and performs well as a mother in “Nomad”
community would provide a new perspective to existing factual beliefs.
Core values
The core values of the “Nomad” community are to preserve its culture, tradition and genetic pool.
Thus, the rejection of children from “unknown” sources is seen as natural protective measures.
Therefore, there is a need to establish/re-establish core values which would to a greater possible
extend be in line with the existing norms of the community and at the same refer to the old norm of
protection of a family. The new/revisited cores values could be:
- A child is a blessing
- Having a child is a gift from a God
- Every child is a gift regardless with or without disability
- A grandchild ensures that your family will last (it is still the same blood)
- A “Nomad” family always protects its members
Personal normative beliefs
There was no in-depth study in Kazakhstan on personal normative believes in regards to the
abandonment of babies due to traditional values. However, the anecdotal evidence may suggest that
personal normative beliefs of young women not always are aligned with the normative expectations.
There are observed cases of young “Nomad” women who tried to keep a child born out-of-marriage
seeking assistance of a state. It may suggest that some of young “Nomad” women do not agree with
the norms established by their reference networks but tends to comply with the norm due to lack of
support. Some interviewed women stated that the motivation not to abandon was due to the emotional
connections with a new born baby but at the same time there were convinced that keeping a child
would expose them to community’s sanctions: they would remain unmarried and would be living in
poverty.
In a case of a father of an abandon baby, in most cases, he tends to conform to the normative believes
thinking that it is normal for a man to leave pregnant woman if she is not the one he and his family
would seriously consider as a wife.
Pluristic Ignorance
Pluralistic ignorance takes place when people ignore, when they have false ideas about, what other
people think. It can allow a norm that is disliked by a majority of the population to survive for as long
as people are unable to freely express their true feelings about it 14. Not having strong evidence yet, it
could be argued that in rapid socio-economic development of Kazakhstan there is a growing number
of “Nomad” population that in fact dislike the social norm on rejecting the out-of-marriage children.
They only continue to practice it because they think that other “Nomad” people support it. This is a
vicious circle in which genuine preferences can remain hidden for long time until the valid majority of
the community would abolish the unwanted social norm – “enough people must believe that enough
people are changing” 15.
Schemata and Script
Schemata and scripts are the mental representations that allow a person to identify own expected
behavior in a given context 16. ‘Schema’ is a more general term, while ‘script’ usually refers
specifically to social situations. It is important to understand people’s schemata and scripts, because
14
Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press
Gerry Mackie, “Social Dynamics of Norm Shift”, PPP presentation at the University of Pennsylvania-UNICEF course on
advance social norms, Philadelphia, 3 July 2013
16
Cristina Bicchieri, “The Grammar of Society: the Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms”, Cambridge University Press,
2006
15
Page 8 of 17
they often contain social norms. It is preferred that alternative schema is introduced as a positive
change rather than an attack on the old system17.
Thus, schema in our case study is very much related to a role of young woman (and a woman in
general) should play in the community vis-à-vis roles to be played by male population. A young
woman in “Nomad” community shall be obedient, look after the household and deliver healthy
children (preferably boys). Thus, a higher education of a young woman is not a desirable skill among
the “Nomad” community. A man is a breadwinner but also a controller of the family income
distribution – a wife is in charge of home budget but only up to the level allocated to her by a
husband. Thus, a woman leaving for city to study is already trespassing her schema (still acceptable
behavior) but when getting pregnant in the city deprives her from “benefiting” from having a
breadwinner so pushing her into economic deprivation.
In case of baby abandonment among “Nomad” women in Kazakhstan there are could be observed
following scripts:
a) Ideal script: A young woman from “Nomad” community gets married as soon as possible within
the community and delivers a first baby-boy. The family of a wife is getting generous dowry 18.
b) Script diverted but acceptable: A young woman from “Nomad” community, despite advice of
her parents, decides to continue higher education in a city. After graduation with a diploma she
returns to “Nomad” community, gets married within the community and delivers a first babyboy. As she is above 22 years old, she may not marry the most desired man but she can
successfully re-unite with the community. The family of a wife is still getting dowry but reduced.
c) Script diverted but unacceptable: A young woman from “Nomad” community, despite advice of
her parents, decides to continue higher education in a city. During her stay in city she gets
pregnant and delivers a child. As a results there are two envisaged scenarios:
- in a secrecy she abandons a child upon delivery, finish her university and returns to “Nomad”
community, gets married within the community and delivers a baby-boy. As she is above 22
years old and not a virgin, she may encounter challenges in find a husband but it is possible:
so she can successfully re-unite with the community. The family of a wife is getting dowry
but small one.
- she keeps the baby what leads to her exclusion from the family and “Nomad” community, she
is left alone in a city with small chances to graduate, unemployed and with limited chances to
get married and establish a family. The family of a wife is not getting any dowry.
d) A positively re-written Script (an alternative): A young woman from “Nomad” community,
despite advice of her parents, decides to continue higher education in a city. During her stay in
the city she gets pregnant and delivers a child. She successfully re-unites with the family within
“Nomad” community. The family and “Nomad” community are upset with the pregnancy but
forgive the “mistake’ and assist a young woman in settling her life within the community. The
family of a wife may still get some dowry but lack of dowry is compensated with a new member
of the family – a grandbaby.
17
Cristina Bicchieri, “The Grammar of Society: the Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms”, Cambridge University Press,
2006
18
The dowry depends on the wealth of the intermarrying families as well as an average wealth of particular community. It
could be for example gold gifts, clothing, sheep, money or carpets.
Page 9 of 17
Image: Who Can Influence the Mother’s Decision to Abandon her Child? (answers from
relatives) 19
I do not
know, 20.5
Nobody, 12.8
Others, 12.8
Specialists,
28.2
Relatives,
23.1
Child’s father,
5.1
Reference network, marriageability and power relations
As explained by Cristina Biccheri, the reference networks are people influencing a choice of an
individual, even if they do not live/are in the same location of that person. In a case of baby
abandonment by a young “Nomad” mother the reference network would include:
a) Parents living in the village of young mother’s origin
b) Extended family living in the village of young mother’s origin or in the same location as a
young mother
c) Neighbors, members of community of the village of young mother’s origin
d) Spiritual, not necessary religious, leaders of the village of young mother’s origin
There is a clear power misbalance in the subject case: young women conform to be obedient while
young men take the role of being bossy and decisive. Young women are used to be told what to do
and if not performing they consider themselves as “bad” wives. The fact that more young women are
being allowed nowadays to study in the city could mean a slight change in the power balance,
however, it does not change a fundamental principle that it is men who keep the economic power in
the family as women, even if better educated, are still expected to assume a schema accepted by the
community (to be a good wife as a cook, sex provider and children deliver).
As men have also more space for immoral behavior (sex before marriage) they are in much stronger
position (bargaining power) in marriageability while expectations of a bribe to be a virgin
significantly limit her chances to get married. In Kazakhstan a man may relatively easily walk away
from a partner when she is having a small baby (alimony system is weak) while a young girl is
expected to stay with a child so her bargaining power in marriageability is again much weaker than of
a man. Thus, to increase young mother’s chances at the “marriage market” she abandons a child. But
commonly, it is her to take a blame for the abandonment not the father. So the men in the “Nomad”
community possess both visible (direct instructing young girls how to behave) and hidden (setting the
rules that a bribe need to be a virgin) powers being supported by invisible power in forms of exiting
scripts as explained by Gerry Mackie 20.
Legal and policy framework
Kazakhstan has rather modern legal framework, thus, most of the legal provisions regarding the
family issues, like a Family Code, are in line with the internationally recognized child rights
standards. Thus, the law is no in any sense an obstacle in changing the social norms on rejecting
19
Public Union Centre «Family», “Study on the causes of child abandonment (age 0-3) in Karaganda oblast”, UNICEF
Kazakhstan 2012
20
Gerry Mackie, “Preview: Power & Social Norms”, PPP presentation at the University of Pennsylvania-UNICEF course on
advance social norms, Philadelphia, July 2013
Page 10 of 17
young women with an out-of-marriage child. As persons below 18 years there is a legal obligation of
parents to look after a child thus also after a child’s child. However, in the case discussed in this paper
most young mothers are above 18 years old so the legal rule does not apply to them.
There is legislation on alimony in place that a father would need to pay regular compensations to
abandoned wife with a baby but this system is still very weak and practically not enforceable. The
tracking of fathers who left family is also challenging as many young women believe that a pregnancy
is only their problem and they are ashamed to refer to the state for help in making a father at least to
pay for his child.
The Government tries to stipulate a demographic grow in the country so a number of cash assistance
incentives for families with children was introduced. It includes cash assistance upon delivering a
child, financial assistance in case of children with disabilities or poverty related assistance.
Nevertheless, the amount of assistance is not enough to maintain an independent life by a single
mother.
As it is in a state’s interest to reduce the number of children in public care (due to harm for children as
well as due to high maintenance costs of the public care system), increase and better targeting of cash
assistance for mothers at risk of child abandonment could foster changing a social norm on child
abandonment among the “Nomad” communities. It could also be seen as a form of compensation for a
family of a young woman for the lost dowry due out-of-marriage pregnancy. So the legislative
framework could be further amended to support re-writing the social scripts in “Nomad”
communities. It could also assist in eliminating some bottlenecks related to the baby abandonment.
PART III: TOWARDS ABANDONING OF A SOCIAL NORM – INTERVENTIONS FOR A
CHANGE
In this part a process of possible abandonment/changing of a social norm related to the abandonment
of “unwanted” babies would be analyzed using the concept of social dynamic of norm shift presented
by Gerry Mackie 21. According to this concept, the social change could be created if:
a) An influential core group is addressed and convinced for a need to change and then
b) A core group stimulates values deliberations process during which the current social norms
are being discussed what can lead to
c) Organized diffusion when wider community started challenging existing norms creating
situation where
d) Enough people are ready to change so there is a wide consensus for changing a social norm
so there is a need for eventual
e) Coordinated shift what the new norm would be established by the community.
The above methodology was demonstrated to be effective in small rural communities of developing
countries where localized discussion and awareness raising could lead to change of behaviors. The
process was often supported by significant donor resources. In case of Kazakhstan, the communities
are more advanced in their development and a change could be introduced using existing government
human and financial resources. UNICEF could play a role of an advocate for change in policies and
practice through delivering analyzed evidence and testing new approaches in localized communities
for its potential scaling up.
Therefore, in context of Kazakhstan using the above mentioned concept of social dynamic of norm
shift for introducing a new social norm of accepting babies from unmarried young women could
consist:
a) Targeting the core group and use of social networks
21
Gerry Mackie, “Social Dynamics and Norm Shift”, PPP presentation at the University of Pennsylvania-UNICEF course on
advance social norms, Philadelphia, July 2013
Page 11 of 17
In a recent rapid economic deployment of Kazakhstan most of the social reforms were addressing the
changing needs and situation of urban population – what is a driver for the economic development.
Not much was done in addressing the needs and challenges of lagging rural population. Thus, there is
a need for more studies to better understand the construction of rural communities to get to know who
could be targeted as a core group for leading a social change. It could be achieved by conducting a
quick survey within the community to understand the existing social networks and its centers.
Following the presented network concepts 22 it would critical to identify who are “Nodes” (points of
networks like a family, individuals) and “Edges” (links/connections between various “Nodes”). Such
survey would enable to identify who among “Nodes” are more central then others as they could be the
desirable people to become agents of change. When selecting a core groups it would be important to
remember that focused groups should not be considered as a potential threat for the exiting local
power establishment.
For the survey on identification of core groups we could use the “snowball approach” methodology
when interviewed people suggest other people to be interviewed. The sample questions could be:
1. Who are their friends?
2. Who they respect?
3. Whose ideas they usually follow?
4. To whom they go for advice on family matters?
As no evidence available yet, for this paper the following assumption who could be a core group in a
traditional “Nomad” village could be done (needed to be verified by an above-mentioned survey):
- Village spiritual leaders/elders (agents of change)
- Mothers of children born out-of-marriage who successful reunited with the “Nomad”
community, especially those having children with disabilities (role models)
- Parents of a young girls who refused to abandoned out-of-marriage baby (roles models)
- Man who married a mothers with out-of-marriage children (role models)
An important issue to consider and test is possibility of linking the core group of one community with
to other communities in supporting transferring new social norm as it could be for example enough to
use media like TV or radio to present “successful stories” as role models for other communities to
follow. Thus, the network for bridging the communities would be the TV or radio programs
watched/listened by the same target groups.
b) Values deliberations process
It would require more in-depth study on the root causes of child abandonment due to the tradition
values to adequately design strategy for the values deliberations process. There is a need to
understand more what motivates parents to reject own daughter and her child. Along with the
traditional KAP approach, there would be a need to design a survey to understand social expectations
related to unmarried babies within the “Nomad” communities. Following questions could be
researched:
- Impact of dowry on decision to marriage?
- Roots of a social norm? Tradition? Religion?
- Attitude towards disability?
- Etc.
The most suitable actor to introduce the values deliberations process is a state social worker. The role
of a social worker would not only be the direct negotiations with the family of a young mother to
accept her with a new born baby back at home but also conducting discussions with the extended
family, neighbors and wider community. However, the deliberation process should be ultimately led
by the respected members of the “Nomad” community as this should be seen as an internal process
22
See Ryan Muldoon’s “Social Network Analysis” PPP presentation at the University of Pennsylvania-UNICEF course on
advance social norms, Philadelphia, 8 July 2013
Page 12 of 17
with limited external interventions. It should start from a small group and gradually include wider
scope of community members until the issue would be ready for wider public deliberations.
The deliberation process needs to be open to all views, including those opposing to a change.
Following a new “fashion” without in-depth integral analyses could result in eventual rejection of a
change. The deliberations should reveal inconsistency in existing social norms and harm being made
by the community to both young mothers and their families. The process should not only change
individual beliefs on treating young mothers with out-of-marriage children but also should create a
common understating that many other members of the community consider changing the old norm.
The value deliberations should be based on a right of a child to grow up in a family environment but
should also refer to the traditional family protection values of “Nomad” community. The preferable
approach would “dressing” a right of a child into the “national” costume of values. Searching for
examples of out-of-marriage children who become “Nomads” historical figures (worriers, actors,
poets, etc.) could further enhance process of accepting the change in beliefs (providing positive
examples from traditional values). The deliberations should also cover existing factual beliefs, social
norms, and local practices.
The values deliberation could also include a vision of a “real man” in the “Nomad” community.
Questions to debate could be for instance:
- What makes a man a “real man”?
- Leaving a pregnant woman or a woman with a small baby is what a “real man” would do?
- Or a “real man” would never abandon its baby?
- Would it make a “real man” by marrying a young girl with a baby to give her and a baby
protection and family life?
This obviously would have clear references to the current “macho” model of “Nomad” communities.
During the values deliberations process the direct targeting of “Nomad” community should be
supported by a wide media campaign on prevention of baby abandonment. The awareness campaign
could be in a form of (or combined few of them):
- Public TV spots
- Radio spots
- Community posters
- TV broadcasted soap operas, comedy programs, debates
- Use of local celebrities
- Use of role models positive deviants
In order to measure the effectiveness of the campaign a developed communication strategy should
have clearly set baselines, objectives and targets as well as should be developed in line with the values
and principles of “Nomad” communities. The key motto of the campaign should referrer to historic
“Nomad” tradition of protective own family.
c) Organized diffusion
When a core group is getting more convinced towards a new norm it could start engaging new
members into the debate until the majority of the community would be engaged into the process. The
diffusion in a case of not rejecting a young mother with an out-of-marriage child would need to start
from influencing the opinion leaders within the “Nomad” community. It should also include number
of parents facing similar situation and dissemination of new information among the community. At
this stage the community would still negate out-of-marriage sex but would start promoting more
tolerate approach for young women who made a “mistake” in their lives by getting pregnant out-ofmarriage.
The process should be stimulated by external factors, especially by continued public awareness
campaign in media. However, as at the initial stage the media campaign was mainly to start discussion
on the existing norm, at this stage it would give additional support in grounding of a new norm among
Page 13 of 17
community members in the transition process. This would help community members to start believing
that other people are also thinking in a “new way”.
Diffusion should have a positive impact on self-sustained beliefs but making them questionable by the
community members. It should be outcome of providing alternatives to existing social norms and
showing potential positive outcomes of changing the practice. Referring to well-known positive cases
(from “Nomads” history or present) would be very important to change a belief that having a child
from out-of-marriage relation could have a positive future for the community.
As the power relations 23 is concerned, changing the power system in the “Nomad” communities when
addressing the out-of marriage children seems to be critically important for conducting an organize
diffusion. It would be strategic to achieve a shift from “power over” when young women are told how
to behave in case of unplanned pregnancy into “power with” approach when all the concerned in the
situation of young girls (young girl her-self, father of a baby, parents, community leaders, social
workers) jointly deliberate on the best way forward in the given situation. We would then also
empower young women (“power to”, “power within”) to be more decisive on her choice not to
abandon a baby.
d) Enough people are ready to change
A moment when “enough people are ready to change” could take a place when a first family would
accept a young mother with and an out-of-marriage child back home without any (or mild) sanctions
from the “Nomad” community. Or when a young man would decide to marry a young woman with a
child without community sanctions. This would be a clear signal that the community reached a stage
of having enough convinced people for a change. However, pending for a “deviant” to make a first
step cannot be prolonged for too long as the initial investments would be forgotten within the
community because it would be hard to maintain high level discussion on an unpleasant subject for a
longer period of time.
During the diffusion process, it would be also important to create a new vision of a “real man”.
Creating a role model of a young man who is responsible for outcomes of his sexual life, who would
never abandon own child even if unplanned, and eventually who would be able to marry a woman he
loves even if she already has a child - a new model of a “real man” who is strong enough to protect
and face all the responsibilities related with the parenthood.
In a case of lack of positive deviants, another trigger would need to be identified. Identification of a
trigger would need to be done jointly with the core groups and with already convinced opinion leaders
to ensure that the trigger would be culturally sensitive not to create a reversal effect.
e) Coordinated shift
The coordinated shift should be agreed among the “Nomad” community. As at this stage already a
large number of individuals are convinced to change the norm, reaching of the agreement on a kind of
coordinated shift should be widely discussed within the community. The coordinated shift could be
for example:
- in a form an open welcome of the returning young mother to the village, having a majority of the
village greeting her upon arrival, or
- a community organized wedding celebration of a young mother with a man who agreed to the
marry even despite the fact that she already has a child.
It would be important to document/broadcast a coordinated shift in media to reach other “Nomad”
communities for scaling up purposes. Such positive examples of actual social norm shift would be a
strong motivation for other communities to follow. During the broadcasting the message, it would be
23
Gerry Mackie, “Preview: Power & Social Norms”, PPP presentation at the University of Pennsylvania-UNICEF course on
advance social norms, Philadelphia, July 2013
Page 14 of 17
important to protect an identity of a young mother to limit her exposure to potential sanctions from
other not transformed communities.
Changing the attitude towards a child born out-of-marriage
If attitude can be defined as an evaluative disposition towards some object, person and behavior 24,
there would be a need to introduce among the “Nomad” community of a new attitude that child is a
child regardless if it was born in or outside a marriage because:
- It is a child
- It is a grandchild
- It secures future of the families (new generations)
There is an existing custom: “Nomad” communities should know at least seven past generations but
should also think about seven future generations.
However, the new attitude should not influence existing general negative attitude towards having outof-marriage sex as it could destabilize the moral values of the community, thus, as such the overall
change would be rejected.
Creating a new social norm and supporting services
The ultimate aim of the action would be creating a new social norm in which a rejection of a baby
born from unmarried young women would be sanctioned by the “Nomad” community. The desirable
outcome is to create a situation where parents would have moral obligation to support own daughter
who got pregnant in out-of-marriage relations, while a social norm condemning of unmarried sex
would be maintained. A new social norm could refer to the need for addressing a “mistake” of youth
but also stress the importance of maintaining the integrity of the family.
The “Nomad” community should jointly introduce sanctions for not respecting of a new norm (part of
new empirical expectations) for families which reject to accepting back own child who has an
unplanned child. The sanction could be related, for example, to participation in joint community
events or celebrations. During the transition period a “Nomad” community could also establish
support services within the village facilitating the family re-unification. For instance, a young mother
upon return to a village could be accommodated in neighbor’s home while elders of the village would
negotiate with the parents the return of a young mother home.
Similar sanctions should be created for men who abandon pregnant women or own children. Exposing
a man to public shame (guilt) 25 for not being responsible for own child could have a positive effect on
changing his behavior.
The creation of a social norm would not be effective if a state would not provide simultaneously
supportive services in form of:
- Professional social workers to initiate the process of changing the norms as well as facilitate
the process leading to chaining of the old norm. At the same time a social worker would be
responsible for ensuring protection of a young mother
- State cash assistance to reduce economic burden for families with extra expenses related to
return of a daughter with a new born baby as well as ease the lack of marriage dowry
- Day care services to support young mother’s employment/continued education as well as not
to burden the family with extra responsibilities related to child’s nursing.
- Psychological support to build self-esteem of young mothers that getting pregnant is not the
end of her life but a new beginning.
- Parental skills education to equip young mothers (and fathers) with necessary skills for
performing its parental responsibilities, especially in case of children with disabilities.
24
Cristina Bicchieri, “What are norms?” P presentation at the University of Pennsylvania-UNICEF course on advance social
norms, Philadelphia, 8 July 2013
25
Cristina Bicchieri, “The Grammar of Society: the Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms”, Cambridge University Press,
2006
Page 15 of 17
Therefore, changing of the social norms in Kazakhstan should be conducted in a context of wider
social/child protection system reform, including relevant legislative reforms.
Addressing the marriageability of young mothers
A part of the strategy could be also looking at the marriageability issue of single mothers. The main
preferable solution would be a marriage within the own community. However, it is hard to expect that
single mothers would wait for a social norm change to get married within the community as it may
take years, if not generations. Thus, as a parallel strategy would be widening prospects of young
mothers to get married. It could be done through specialized internet matching services, as the use of
internet is high in Kazakhstan (regardless of income level). Such an internet platform could also
present “successful stories” of other single mothers who not only kept a child but were also able to set
up a new family (showing that there are many of them – creation of solidarity). Increasing the
percentage of single mothers getting married could have also a positive impact on “Nomad”
communities which would understand that their sanctions to punish immoral behavior are not working
any longer. Thus, despite the expelling sanctions, the young mother still can have a normal life. It
could also further mobilize the community to have young mothers returning to own community rather
than getting married to “aliens”.
Measuring the progress and impact
It is very important to know the progress of undertaken initiatives towards set objectives as well as, at
the end of interventions, to know if and what kind of impact was made. It would be also important to
understand how the impact was achieved (or not) for planning of future social norm related
interventions. Measuring of social norms is not an easy task but there are several techniques making it
feasible 26. As in every social interventions, there is a need to establish baselines at the beginning of
the process to be able to measure progress made (or lack of progress). For measuring we could use
standards tools like Demographic Health Study (DHS) or Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP)
surveys, however, they may not necessary give all the sought answers in term of social norms as they
mostly measure individual behaviors. Therefore, these tools would need to be modified to understand
what are the empirical and normative expectations of the target communities. The modified tools
should be able to give answers for example on:
- Understanding collective practice
- Consensus (is there a social norm)
- Conformity (under which conditions will it be obeyed)
PART IV: CONCLUSION
The social norm approach is a very important component of changing social infrastructure in
countries with growing socio-economic disparities. The presented social norm changing techniques
are often used in developing countries but they have a strong validity also in the countries of higher
income where strong government structures exist. The difference in approach would be kind of used
communication channels and messages, however, the core of social norms seem to be the same for
developed and developing communities. For the upper middle income country like Kazakhstan any
envisaged social programs need to be embedded into the existing state programs. Kazakhstan with
vast mineral resources is able to cover related investments on its own. An external support, like of
UNICEF’s, shall be directed to demonstrate best feasible approaches so the Government would be
confident of their national replication. This complicates and delay the process as much easier is “to go
to the field and do the work yourself” but it ensures long term sustainability of undertook actions.
PART V: LITERATURE AND REFERENCE LIST
1. Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press
2. Cristina Bicchieri, “The Grammar of Society: the Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms”,
Cambridge University Press, 2006
26
Cristina Bicchieri, “Norms in the Wild”, Cambridge University Press. See chapter on “measuring norms: consensus and
conformity”
Page 16 of 17
3. “Social Norms”, Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-norms/)
4. Giacomo Sillari, “Sustaining Safe Sanitation and Hygiene Practicies through Enhaced
Beavior Change Communicaiton Modles: Training on Social Norms” Scuola Normale
Superiore, Pise and Leiss University, Rome
5. Lori L. Heise, “What Works to Prevent Partner Violence? En Evidence Overview”, Centre for
Gender Violence and Health, London School of Hygiene and tropical Medicine
6. Uri Gneezy, Stephan Meier, Pedoro Rey-Biel, “When and Why Incentives (Don’t) Work to
Modify Behavior, Amercian Economic Association (http://www.jstor.org/stable/413372356)
7. Gerry Mackie, “Effective Rule of Law Requires Construction of a Social Norm of Legal
Obedience”, University of Chicago Political Theory Workshop, 22 April 2012
8. Anna Maria Munoz Boudet, Patti Petesch, Carolyn Turk, Angelica Thumala, “On Norms and
Agency: Conversations about Gender Equality with Women and Men in 20 Countries”, The
World Bank, 2012
9. Robin Haarr, “A Rapid Assessment of Children’s Vulnerabilities to Risky Behaviours, Sexual
Exploitation and Trafficking”. UNICEF Kazakhstan, 2012.
10. Keetie Roelen and Franziska Gassmann, “Child well-being in Kazakhstan, UNICEF
Kazakhstan, 2012.
11. UNICEF CEE/CIS and UNHCHR “End placing children under three years in institutions: A
call to Action” (http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/unicefceecis/unicef-a-call-to-action/1)
12. UNICEF CEE/CIS Study “At home or in a home? Formal care and adoption of children in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia”
(http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/At_home_or_in_a_home_report.pdf)
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