Alexander Behenna, CJL
Anti-corruption practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the role of social norms in perpetuating corruption and corrupt behaviors. USAID’s 2024 Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Policy, for instance, stresses the need to “incorporate an understanding of how social norms, including gender norms, affect the promotion of democracy, human rights, and governance.” Accounting for social norms cannot be an afterthought in anti-corruption programming, as they are often even larger drivers of corrupt behaviors than economic factors, individual attitudes and even laws.
There is a knowledge gap that needs to be filled
However, there is a knowledge gap in how practitioners can work towards changing these harmful social norms. This has real consequences in the field: hasty or uninformed interventions in social norms programming can in fact further entrench the norms they are seeking to change; and for those working in conflict-affected regions, certain mistakes may actually exacerbate conflict and violence.
Social norms change is a rapidly evolving field and one of the Corruption, Justice and Legitimacy team’s core focus areas. We recently surveyed new literature published since our last search effort in 2018, looking specifically for social norms change literature related to anti-corruption and adjacent fields.
"Accounting for social norms cannot be an afterthought in anti-corruption programming, as they are often even larger drivers of corrupt behaviors than economic factors, individual attitudes and even laws."
What we found is a wealth of material being published on social norms change, though not that much directly related to anti-corruption programming. However, we did come across three sources that we believe could be hugely valuable for anti-corruption practitioners working from a social norms-based approach. The sources are in-depth enough that even seasoned practitioners will find information of value, while clear and accessible enough that newcomers to the field will not find themselves out of their depth.
Here they are.
1. Compiling knowledge of social norms change in anti-corruption
What gaps it fills
Strengthening Rule of Law Approaches to Address Organized Crime: Social Norms captures key points from a 2019 USAID roundtable, offering a compilation of useful ideas from practitioners in a variety of contexts. While it focuses specifically on organized crime, its theories can easily be extrapolated to a broader anti-corruption strategy. An excellent feature of this paper is that it gives a concise, practitioner-oriented summary of the most important observations about social norms change in different fields. These are then translated into a list of possible tools that could hold value for anti-corruption practitioners.
Why practitioners will care
This brief is a fantastic resource for practitioners to get a good overview of current thinking in social norms change programming that is linked to anti-corruption. It is in fact an essential starting point for people who want learn about key concepts, challenges and strategies. These are supplemented with useful examples from the international development field, showing how core tools can be applied in a range of contexts: everything from anti-extortion programs to promoting safe mining practices.
2. Essential methods and considerations for anti-corruption practitioners
What gaps it fills
Anti-corruption through a social norms lens gives an in-depth analysis of how social norms relate to corruption. It also provides specific steps, compiled from other fields, for alleviating these norms or the pressures they cause. Showcasing a collection of literature that, unusually, bridges the gap between theory and practice, this piece represents an effective synthesis of research findings and observations from practitioners in the field.
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Why practitioners will care
There are concrete recommendations for how practitioners can incorporate a social norms approach into anti-corruption programming. The issue draws on evidence from external fields to offer various methods for bringing about social norms change, along with key considerations for how to use these strategies responsibly and effectively. While the evidence is drawn from outside the anti-corruption context, David Jackson and Nils Kobis effectively translate these findings into actionable insights relevant to anti-corruption work. There is much potential here for new life being injected into anti-corruption programming.
3. A case study of an effective anti-corruption intervention using a social norms approach
What gaps it fills
While there are many case studies on successful social norms interventions outside the anti-corruption field, there is a lack of studies that focus specifically on social norms change in anti-corruption programming. Developing anti-corruption interventions addressing social norms: Lessons from a field pilot in Tanzania from Claudia Baez-Camargo provides a rare in-depth look into a social norms change experiment that explicitly relates to anti-corruption. From the context of an anti-bribery campaign in a Tanzanian hospital, this paper offers valuable lessons on how to navigate a labyrinth of social practices and cultural dynamics to wage an effective campaign against harmful social norms.
Why practitioners will care
While practitioners will find value simply in reading the description of a successful social norms change project, Claudia Baez-Camargo also offers numerous guidance notes and lessons for other practitioners seeking to change social norms in relation to corrupt practices. This guidance is not based solely on the campaign in the Tanzanian hospital, but rather uses this example to build on previous knowledge about anti-corruption programming. Readers will come away not only with practical tools and ideas, but also with a renewed sense of optimism that, while still nascent, the field of social norms change in anti-corruption programming is steadily moving forward.
The future of the field
While social norms change in anti-corruption programming is gaining increasing interest and attention, our literature review shows that it is still a niche topic in the wider social norms change community. It’s been well proven that social norms are a major driver of corrupt practices in contexts of endemic corruption––so now the main task is understanding effective ways to change them.
The Corruption, Justice & Legitimacy Program at Besa Global is working hard to contribute evidence and processes to fill this ‘how-to’ gap. Official announcement coming soon!
Alexander Behenna recently graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a B.A. Honors in Political Studies and a certificate in Global Studies. Over the past year, he has assisted the Corruption, Justice & Legitimacy Program in research and communications work. He has previous experience as an online English language tutor for Vietnamese communities through the Pacific Links Foundation.