CAN THE SOCIAL NORMS
APPROACH BE USED AS A
HAZING PREVENTION
STRATEGY?
A StopHazing Webinar
November 4, 2014
Alan D. Berkowitz
@stophazing
OVERVIEW
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Challenges of Hazing Prevention
Social Norms Introduction
Possible Application
A Case Study Next Steps? Discussion
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WHO DO WE FOCUS ON?
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Incoming members?
Current active members? Graduates? Other bystanders (advisors, friends, etc.)?
All of the above?
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ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HAZING
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Some or most are uncomfortable, to at least some
extent, with hazing behaviors
This discomfort is hidden, i.e. individuals are not aware
of others’ discomfort
Hazing, or at least its extremes, is propelled by a
minority who think that they represent and speak for
the majority
By revealing hidden healthy norms, we can tip the
scale in favor of increased bystander intervention and
reduced abuse
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CHALLENGES TO ADDRESSING
HAZING
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It is a secret behavior
Is justified by “tradition”
Is seen as having benefits
It feeds on group belonging needs and fear of
rejection
It empowers a minority to engage in extreme
behavior
The barriers to addressing hazing are unusually high —
especially to interventions from the “outside”
Is there a solution that can come from within the group?
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The Social Norms Approach
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WHAT IS A NORM?
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“Social norms” refer to the acceptability of an action
or belief
Are unspoken rules about what is “normal” for that
group or setting
Perceptions of social norms predict what people will
say and do
Norms exist for individuals, groups and communities
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EXAMPLES OF NORMS
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Frequency and sexual activity
Attitude towards “hooking up”
Willingness to intervene
Tolerance of high-risk behavior
Support for policies and enforcement
How individuals feel about specific hazing behaviors
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CORRECTING MISPERCEIVED
NORMS
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People over-estimate risk behaviors and underestimate protective behaviors*
Misperceived norms exert powerful (and unconscious)
effects on behavior
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WHAT BELIEFS UNDERLIE
MISPERCEPTIONS?
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Pluralistic Ignorance: the incorrect belief that one’s
private attitudes, judgements, or behavior are different
from others. False Consensus: the incorrect belief that one
represents the majority when one is actually a
minority.
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MISPERCEPTIONS ARE PERVASIVE
AND INFLUENTIAL
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Documented overestimations include:
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Sexual activity and number of partners
Alcohol use
Comfort with “hooking up”
Frequency of coercive sex and other violent behaviors
Belief in rape myths and other justifications for violence
Documented underestimations include:
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Willingness to intervene and confront abuse
Support for policies and enforcement
Respect for individuals who intervene
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OTHER MISPERCEPTIONS
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Documented overestimations include:
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Gambling
Anti-immigrant sentiment
Homophobia among heterosexuals
Bullying and sexting Documented underestimations include:
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Support and practice of green behaviors
Spirituality and religiosity
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MISPERCEPTIONS & BYSTANDER
BEHAVIOR
Individuals are bothered by problem behaviors but underestimate
others’ discomfort with them and their desire to have someone
intervene
• Men underestimate other men’s respect for someone who
intervenes
• Intervention is more likely when others are perceived as willing
to intervene
• Problem individuals use the misperceptions to justify their
behavior
Misperceptions are one of the critical barriers to intervention, fostering
inaction and justifying abuse
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FAKE CONSENSUS NORMS
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Individuals who engage in problem attitudes and
behavior overestimate other’s support for their
attitudes and actions, i.e.
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Perpetrators of domestic violence
Men who sexually assault
Problem drinkers
Gamblers
Hazing “ring-leaders”
People who engage in high-risk other behaviors
Perpetrator overestimations predict problem behavior. A false consensus norm constitutes a “self-serving bias”
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QUESTIONS
Do misperceptions about hazing exist within the Greek
community — and specifically among members of
individual chapters (as well as in other organizations)? !
If identified, could correction of these misperceptions
function to normalize health and protective behaviors
and undermine hazing?
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MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND
“SEXTING”
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47% of students said that “most students” would
forward a “sext” message
In fact, only 4% said that they would actually forward a
“sext” message
What is the effect of this misperception?
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GIRLS PERCEIVED VS. ACTUAL
INTERCOURSE
By the end of the eight grade,
how many girls do you think
have had sexual intercourse?
Perceived
none
had sex
12%
less than
half had
sex
36%
Have you ever had sexual
intercourse (had sex, made
love, gone all the way)?
almost
all had
sex
8%
Actual
Had sex
22%
more
than half
had sex
17%
about
half had
sex
27%
Never
had sex
78%
8th grade girls, surveyed June 2002 by PPNYC
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According to a
September 2002 survey
of PS140 6-8th graders,
67% believe that sexual
intercourse is for adults
in committed or
married relationships
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A Case Study
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UCM EPIC PROGRAM
“Encouraging Positive Interventions in Chapters”
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Collect actual and perceived norms in Greek chapters
for alcohol-related bystander scenarios
Share results of data with chapters in tailored
workshops
Social norms media campaign
Active BI Video contest
Also offered as an in-class program on sexual assault
for first-year students
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PROGRAM OVERVIEW
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90 minutes
Shared social norms data and taught theory Taught bystander intervention theory and skills
Used clickers to teach, check understanding and
reflect
Practiced skills with role plays and scenario
worksheets
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HOW MUCH DOES THE
FOLLOWING BOTHER YOU?
(FRATERNITY)
Noticing an intoxicated chapter member harassing or
bothering someone
Not at all
Somewhat
Very much
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Perception
7.7%
50.0%
38.5%
Reality
11.5%
11.5%
73.1%
A TYPICAL THURSDAY NIGHT
(SORORITY EXAMPLE)
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70% of members think their chapter members
typically drink more than 3 drinks on a Thursday. In reality 76% of members actually drink 3 or less. • 26% drink 1-3 drinks
• 50% drink 0 drinks
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WHAT I WANT FROM MY
SISTERS…
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100% of my sisters said they want their sisters to…
• Step in when I’m drinking to the point of harming
myself
• Step in if I’m drinking to the point of putting the
health & safety of others in jeopardy
• Step in if I’m intoxicated and embarrassing the
chapter
What are the “what I want from my brothers / sisters”
questions for hazing?
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INTERVENING DATA
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THE CRITICAL QUESTION
What increases or decreases the misperception? !
Anything that increases the misperception is bad for
prevention no matter what the issue or strategy
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Misperceptions are one of many influences on abuse and
their correction can be combined with other strategies
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AN ANTI-HAZING “HERO”
…when I stepped up, I was kind of like the main person
wasn’t going to take it anymore… And after I stood up
and said something at our chapter meeting and
presented this whole thing on hazing in front of my
chapter… I was really nervous and really wasn’t sure
how the whole chapter was gonna take to that idea or
even just how they were going to respond to it, cuz I
just felt that…I’m the only one in this chapter who
feels that hazing is wrong…
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AN ANTI-HAZING “HERO”
…But then afterwards, you know, that night or the next
day I got some e-mails from my brothers who are saying,
“Hey, I think you have, you know, the right mind-set…
and we support you.” And I felt really, really glad that I
wasn’t the only one in my fraternity who felt that
and that there were people in the fraternity who really
felt that hazing is wrong and that they supported my
efforts
in
trying
to
stop
it.
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Daniel Kim, 2011 anti-hazing hero awardee
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CONCLUDING POINTS
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SNA (misperception correction) is effective as a
stand-alone strategy with individuals, groups and
communities
SNA can be integrated as a component of other
strategies to enhance them
Misperceptions when uncorrected create a climate
that works against our prevention efforts
SNA is a way of thinking about prevention as well as a
specific strategy
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NEXT STEPS
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Incorporate perception questions into hazing surveys. Pilot a small-group norms intervention with individual
chapters/organizations, with separate components for
new and existing members.
Develop Greek or organization specific social norms
media campaigns with aggregated data for the campus. !
Goal: to bring to the surface healthy anti-hazing norms that
exist within Greek organizations
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CONCLUSION
Discussion and comments
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RESOURCES & STUDIES
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Haines, MP, Perkins, HP, Rice, RM, Barker, GB. Guide to Marketing Social Norms
for Health Promotion in Schools and Communities. www.socialnorm.org
DeJong W., Schneider S. K., Towvim L. G., Murphy M., Doerr E., Simonsen N. et al.
(2006) A multisite randomized trial of social norms marketing campaigns to
reduce college drinking. J Stud Alcohol 2006; 67: 868–79. Berkowitz, AD. A Grassroots Guide to Fostering Healthy Norms to Reduce
Violence in Our Communities: A Social Norms Toolkit. (2013). New Jersey
Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Available from www.alanberkowitz.com
Berkowitz, AD (2004). An Overview of the Social Norms Approach. Chapter 13
(p187-208) in L Lederman, L Stewart, F Goodhart and L Laitman (Eds).
Changing the Culture of College Drinking: A Socially Situated Prevention
Campaign, Hampton Press. Berkowitz, AD (2010) Fostering Health Norms to Prevent Violence and Abuse:
The Social Norms Approach. Chapter 8 in Kaufman, K (Ed): The Prevention of
Sexual Violence: A Practitioner’s Sourcebook. NEARI Press, Holoyoke, MA.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Alan Berkowitz
Independent Consultant
Mount Shasta, CA
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[email protected]
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WWW.ALANBERKOWITZ.COM
@stophazing