Advances in Social Norms and Social Change Course
“Why I Love My Father?”
By
Frank Roni
Executive Summary:
The Impact of Fathers on the psychological well-being and the social behavior of their children
is immeasurable as noted by Dr. David Popenoe, a well-known sociologist. "Fathers are far more
than just 'second adults' in the home," he says. "Involved fathers bring positive benefits to their
children that no other person is as likely to bring."1 Fathers have a direct impact on the wellbeing of their children. It is important for professionals working with children—especially in
political and social conflict areas to engage fathers in providing protective environment for their
children. These professionals also need to understand how to involve fathers and male caregivers
in the lives of the children and to involve them in children psychosocial, recreational and
educational activities.
This paper lays out the experience of UNICEF and its local and international partners in the
occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) in developing different psychosocial programs and
activities targeting children, parents, community members and professional. Starting with an
over view of the political and socio-economic situation in the oPt, the existing work of UNICEF
and partners in psychosocial, evaluation of the previous work done, analyzing the previous
experience from social norms lens and finally providing some suggestions.
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice. (2002, Summer). Father
involvement in child welfare: Estrangement and reconciliation
[On-line]. Available: http://www.cwresource.org/Online%20publications/fatherInvolvement.pdf.
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Background:
The protracted conflict and occupation in oPt has caused significant psychological and
social suffering to affected populations. The psychological and social impacts of the conflict and
occupation may be acute in the short term, but they can also undermine the long-term mental
health and psychosocial well-being of the affected population. These impacts can threaten human
rights and development, as well as the overall stability of communities within the occupied
territory, creating a wide range of problems experienced at the individual, family, community
and social levels. One of the priorities in conflict situation is thus to protect and improve
people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being (IASC Guidelines).
Violence against girls and boys and female and male caregivers includes direct attacks,
bombing, shelling and shootings with consequences of death, injury and disability. It also
includes restrictions on movement and mobility, suspension of civil liberties, structural
inequalities, loss of livelihood and severe economic distress resulting from the blockade, the
confiscation of land, destruction of properties and forced displacement. The combination of these
factors results in a systematic assault on Palestinian identity that threatens children’s security and
psychosocial well-being and negatively impacts the fabric of family and community life.
Violence and disruptions in social services and protection systems also undermine the ability of
parents – both mothers and fathers – to care for and protect their children. This is compounded
by social and political fragmentation that compromises the development of individuals and their
communities. For children in their formative years and adolescents transitioning to adulthood,
the long term impacts can be devastating.
Since 2009, UNICEF occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has invested more than USD 12
million in support of psychosocial programming for both emergency intervention and longerterm implementation. Partners are primarily among Civil Society Organization (CSO) and NonGovernmental Organizations (NGO) partners. The scope of such partnerships has emphasized
direct service provision, including child protection and psychosocial care and support, for
children and community-based support through Family Centres, as well as capacity building of
local partners, including community-based committees. More recently, UNICEF has begun to
shift to child protection system building in oPt, including in psychosocial programming, through
ministerial and NGO partnerships.
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UNICEF Child Protection Psychosocial Programme
The overall objective of the UNICEF Psychosocial Programme is to strengthen the
protective environment for children, through (1) Direct psychosocial support for children,
parents and caregivers through mobilization of Psychosocial Support Teams (PSSTs); (2) Multidisciplinary protection services for girls and boys, and their caregivers in 21 Family Centres in
Gaza; (3) Capacity building of Child Protection Networks, led by the Ministry of Social Affairs,
in developing a comprehensive system of referral and case management for children at risk of or
subject to violence; (4) Leadership of the Child Protection and the Mental Health Psychosocial
Support (MHPSS) Working Groups to ensure effective, coordinated, timely, and focused interand multi -agency response.
The UNICEF oPt child protection programme is currently providing psychosocial
services to children and their families through the work of 16 psychosocial teams and
coordination of the MHPSS sector in West Bank and Gaza, and through 21 Family Centres in
Gaza.
UNICEF, through its work with The Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict
resolution (PCDCR) and the YMCA, has established 16 Emergency Psychosocial Teams in Gaza
(5) and West Bank (11), providing comprehensive coverage in both emergency and long-term
responses for the psychosocial needs of children and families in the most vulnerable
communities. The Emergency Psychosocial Teams cover the 16 districts in oPt including East
Jerusalem, offering a range of psychosocial services. In case of an acute emergency, such as
military incursions, house demolitions, evictions, shootings, night searches and other violations,
a Psychosocial Emergency Teams are immediately mobilized to the affected area to assess the
needs of affected children and families, and to provide individual and small group counseling, as
appropriate. The Psychosocial Teams are composed of up to 25 community-based psychologists,
educators and legal counselors trained to provide support to children and caregivers, and to also
detect cases that require more specialized care and referral.
Complementary work in the psychosocial sector is provided through the Family Centers
project in Gaza, which is an integrated programme offering psychosocial, health and educational
support through partnerships with two local NGOs, Ma’an and Tamer. The concept of Family
Center was developed together with NGO partners to provide a multi-faceted approach to
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children and their caregivers who have been affected by conflict and who require access to a
range of support mechanisms. Currently 21 Family Centres in Gaza provide a holistic range of
services to children and their families in safe, protected environments within their own
communities in order to bolster their resilience and increase their psychosocial well-being. The
Family Centres include psychosocial support as a cross cutting issue, complementing the
psychosocial.
Providing comprehensive and systematic approach of services will have a better outcome
on the psychosocial well-being of children. For that, UNICEF and its partners, focus more on
providing community based psychosocial programs that target all relevant groups such as,
community and religious leaders, parents and caregivers, teachers and school counselors, and
volunteers and professionals.
Partners provide parents and caregivers number of sensitization session during the life of
the project. Mothers, fathers and other caregivers attending the sensitization sessions are
equipped with skills on how to protect and support their children and develop more positive
skills when dealing with them. The sessions also help female and male caregivers to express their
feelings, share their experiences and ventilate their stress. The psychosocial emergency teams
constantly encourage male “fathers” attendance to the sensitization sessions.
Female and male caregivers who participate in the sensitization sessions are mainly those
whose children (boys and girls) receive counseling. This ensures that those children will receive
the needed support when they go home and encourages a sustainable positive change in family
relations and on the development of these children.
The following are the main topics used in the sensitization sessions:
1. Discussion of problems faced by their children and provision of knowledge and skills to
dealing with these problems.
2. Awareness raising for caregivers regarding the impact of using violence against children
and introduction of appropriate positive communication skills.
3. Clarification of the impact of family problems on the psychological status and healthy
development of children.
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4. Awareness raising regarding the connection between the academic problems and the
psychological status of the child.
5. Awareness raising on child rights and needs.
6. Offering caregivers the opportunity to ventilate and express their feelings, in addition to
increasing their awareness and encouraging them to approach institutions that offer
psychosocial services when needed.
The Role of Fathers in the Psychosocial Program
UNICEF and its partners believe that the involvement of fathers and male caregivers in the
life of children will have a great impact on their physical and cognitive development, their
psychosocial well-being, and will improve their coping mechanisms and enhance their resilience.
Therefore, UNICEF and its partners paid special attention to the work with fathers throughout
the implementation of their psychosocial programs. Involving fathers in the project activities was
and will continue to be a challenge.
This paper will investigate and analyze the presenting problem from a social norms lens.
Suggesting that there must be a social norm impeded within the scripts, values and social beliefs
that have an influence on the gender roles and responsibilities within the family. With all the
changes and modifications that were incorporated throughout the years, the problem still exists.
First of all there is a need to understand what a social norm is and how it influences the behavior
of fathers.
According to Cristina Bicchieri, she defines a social norm as “a pattern of behavior such
that individuals prefer to conform to it on condition that they believe that (a) most people in their
relevant network conform to it (empirical expectation), and (b) that most people in their relevant
network believe they ought to conform to it (normative expectation)”.
For that, it is very important to diagnose and understand if the lack of participation has to
deal with certain social norms within the Palestinian society which have negative influence on
the participation of fathers and male caregivers. This diagnose will enhance and strengthen the
development phase and clarify the type of activities, type of social change and improved
implementation.
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In the beginning, the project’s activities were developed based on the experience of the
emergency team members and their understanding of the negative impact of the ongoing conflict
on the children, and also on the importance of fathers in protecting the psychosocial well-being
of their children. The development of the activities was also based on the personal interests of
fathers, their expectations and priorities. A whole year passed and no positive outcomes.
During the development of the 2011 psychosocial project, UNICEF partners organized focus
groups discussions in the West Bank and Gaza with some fathers and other male caregivers; this
was to understand the factors that prevent the participation of fathers. According to the
participated fathers, these were the main factors:
1. We are very busy and we do not have time to come to the activities, we have to work.
2. The time of the activities is not convenient for us.
3. The type of the activities is for little kids and we are not kids.
4. When we are off from work we have a lot of other things to take care off for the family.
5. We ask our wife to go to these activities because they are the ones at home.
6. When we come back from work we are so tired and would rather to go and see our
friends and other family members.
7. We work inside Israel and come back home once a week.
Based on the findings from these focus groups, it was agreed to respond to the individual
needs of fathers and to take their recommendations and suggestions into consideration during the
development of the new activities.
During the 2011, new types of activities were introduced, more focus was given to
recreational and sports activities between fathers and their children. Open fun days for the whole
family and community inside or around their communities, field trips to recreational places were
organized, partners held workshops and discussions in coffee shops, where men gather and play
cards. Partners held sessions inside the Mosque after prayer, at the health clinics and invited
fathers to schools, and to the village counsel. At the end of the project, the results were not
satisfying or promising.
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Looking back and evaluating the achievements based on the new modifications on the
project and the project’s activities, the findings were not satisfying. All the changes that were
introduced were based on individual needs and priorities. Participating in the social norms course
and using the social norms lens, I am introducing below a personal anticipation that a social
norm is negatively influencing fathers’ decisions for not participating.
The Social Norms and Social Change Lens
The course on social norms and social change provided additional lens when reviewing
and assessing the presenting problem. It was obvious that the problem was not in the design of
the project neither with the type of the activities. The implementing partners, the type of the
activities, the time of the implementation, the days, the locations of the implementation, and the
topics of the sensitization sessions all were modified and changed throughout the years. These
changes did not have an impact on the number of fathers and male caregivers’ participation. The
course highlighted the importance of investigating the social norms and its impact on the
individual and social behaviors. There must be other rooted factors that prevent fathers and male
caregivers in taking part in their children’s life. In order to understand if a social norm
conditioning the behavior of male figures in the Palestinian society, we need to understand what
a social norm is, how it develops, its impact on the individual preferences and how it can be
changed. We need to be able to answer this question, “What are the different factors that
negatively feed the social norm around parenting?”
Diagnosis of the Social Norm and how it impacts fathers’ behavior
Gender Roles:
In a traditional and idealized Palestinian culture, there are a lot of social roles and social
expectations that influence and condition the behavior of fathers and their preferences. The
identified gender roles and responsibilities are interlinked with each other and impacts each other
positively and negatively. This is the reason for emphasizing this throughout the paper; for
instance empirical expectations around gender roles and responsibilities will influence the
decision-making of males because they think all men in their social network do not spend time
with their children and do not get involve in their psychosocial activities. They also think that all
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mothers around them stay in the house and take care of their children and husband and they are
the ones who attend these activities. Normative expectations will also influence their decisions
because they believe that others believe that they will not stay home and spend time with their
family.
For men, the cultural emphasis on being dominant can also affect their behavior because their
empirical expectation telling them all men in their society are dominant in their homes and do
not do women identified tasks. The normative expectation for being dominant can be translated
into that they believe that others believe that they should be in control inside their house and
dominant in the family. There is a positive side of this gender expectation, it encourages men to
work hard to provide for and protect their family. In general, Palestinian fathers are much more
nurturing and egalitarian than one might expect, perhaps due to the traditional emphasis on
familial obligations. This positive value can help in introducing positive social norm by building
on it.
Unfortunately, the other side of these traditional behaviors is that Palestinian men are often seen
as cold and domineering, due to the cultural emphasis on their economic role in the family and
not on care-taking. Dr. Ahmad Baker, professor of Psychology at Beir Zeit University who
discussed this issue further. Dr. Baker indicated that some research has shown that when men
face difficulties finding employment and are unable to “live up to” their perceived role in the
family they have increased self-doubt which manifests as withdrawal from the family unit. Some
research claims that when Palestinian men cannot define themselves in a positive, productive
way in society they will define themselves in more negative, possibly stereotypical gender
identity (withdrawal, aggression, etc.). What's more, men may feel justified in engaging in
destructive behaviors such as domestic violence or disengagement as long as they are fulfilling
their cultural obligations to provide for their family economically.
As indicated in the above paragraph a normative expectation will influence the father’s behavior
because he believe that others believe that he should not listen to his wife and spend time at
home, or play with his children. As for women it is the opposite, the normative expectation is
that others believe that she is the one who should stay home and take care of the children and her
husband. The cultural construct of the female role with the Palestinian scripts as Rita Giacaman,
professor at the Institute of Community Public Health at the University of Beir Zeit, defines it as
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“an emphasis on family relationships and a strong value placed on childbearing as an integral
part of family life and the feminine gender role”. This leads women to define themselves through
their family and children instead of independently or as part of a couple as part of their factual
beliefs. The role of martyr, as factual and normative beliefs, is also idealized, with women
expected to be submissive and sacrifice themselves for their families. For social workers in the
field, this stereotype provides both an opportunity and a challenge. It means that women will be
extremely dedicated to their families and the good of their children, which can be a powerful
motivator for participating in the psychosocial activities that UNICEF is providing and can be a
starting point in introducing a new social norm.
The Extended Family, the friends and the community as core groups:
Another strong cultural value in the Palestinian community which feeds into the current social
norm and have an influence on the behavior of fathers is that of the role of the extended family,
the friends, and the community. They can be considered as reference networks that influence our
behavior because we care about their opinion and how they view us. We seek their social
approval and want to fit in; they mean to us and we are concerned about their negative social
sanctions. According to Tajfel’s theory, “when we categorize ourselves as belonging to a
particular group, the perception and definition of the self as well as our motives, change. We
start perceiving ourselves and our fellow group-members along impersonal, ‘typical’ dimensions
that characterize the group to which we belong. Such dimensions include specific roles and the
beliefs/actions that accompany them”.
The emphasis on family obligation, the value of children, friends, community and the importance
of past and future generations influence our behavior (empirical, all children listen to their
parents, all men in our village do not spend time at home, and all my friends go to the coffee
shop and play cars) and (normative expectations, men in the village and my friends believe that I
believe that we ought to listen to our parents and take their advice, that I believe I should not
spend time at home and that I believe I should listen and respect what my parents tell me).
The extended family can play a more positive role in strengthening a couple’s relationship with
some of the positive associations it brings. The importance of the extended family is that it
provides the couple with an extensive social support network and social recognition that can
assist them in times of emotional or economic difficulty. In addition, the emphasis on stability
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and community means that the importance of the couple’s relationship is validated and supported
by the extended family. While the involvement of the extended family, friends and community in
the lives of the Palestinian couples can help support and validate their relationships and families,
it can also influence their decision-making and impact their relationship negatively.
Introducing Change
In order to change a social norm we need to work on changing people’s empirical expectations.
Changing empirical expectations, individuals should observe or at least expect that a large
number from their social networks will change their behavior. Fathers will not participate unless
they observe others or believe that others believing that they will change their behavior. This is
because they do not want to suffer negative consequences. This is because social norms are also
supported by normative expectations as indicated by Biccieri “the expectation that others believe
we ought to behave in a given way, and may sanction us (in a negative way) if we stray.
Changing norms thus presents us with a collective action problem, as nobody wants to incur the
negative sanctions involved in a transgression”.
The whole network of values, custom, scripts and beliefs surrounding the gender roles and
responsibilities within the Palestinian family are responsible for the normative expectations and
cannot vanish easily; and as long as it is present, it is going to make introducing a new norm
extremely difficult. Bicchieri indicated “if empirical expectations are a crucial element in norm
change, changing empirical expectations without first modifying normative expectations is not
always possible. Even if a father started to believe that he has to spend more time with his family
and play with them, it will be hard for him to do that if he does not expect that his core social
network expecting from him to do so.
We need to understand that some of the beliefs that we have in the Palestinian culture are very
difficult to change because they are more central than others. These beliefs are at the center of a
dense network of beliefs, attitudes and values and may be linked with religious beliefs and social
custom. The belief that men should not spend time with their families and participate in their
children’s life is linked with gender roles and responsibilities; but others may argue that religion
supports these beliefs and social customs. For that if we attack these impeded roles and
responsibilities and gender differences most likely we will not succeed in introducing other
positive beliefs.
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What needs to be done to introduce more positive social norms?
For most beliefs the most effective way to change them, and thus eventually change the practices
that they support, is through argumentation (Bicchieri). According to her, in order “for
argumentation to be successful, however, two conditions are required; first, the arguer must be
able to rest on a set of explicit beliefs and values that is equally well entrenched in the listener
and that is inconsistent with the target belief that we want to change. Second, the belief must not
be held mainly because other people hold it as well. Social norms, we have argued, are supported
by shared normative beliefs. Therefore the process of belief change has to be a collective one.
People, in other words, have to change their mind together”.
Using argumentation either during community gatherings or through a whole set of media
campaigns will be one of the most effective ways in introducing a new social norm especially if
we have a trusted and well respected person. Having religious leaders play the role of exogenous
agents, can play a good role in differentiating between what is religion and what is not especially
if he uses texts from the Quran and from the prophet sayings.
This helps a lot in making people change their mind about relevant normative beliefs especially
if they have been using religion to justify them. Providing new explanations and information is
not enough sometimes, people need to be convinces that they should change their mind and they
have to do it collectively; as no one wants to incur the negative sanctions involved in a
transgression.
Organizing gatherings, festivals, and other community event are other ways to introduce change
on the community level. Involving religious and community leaders is very important. Having
representatives from the government will also have positive result. Engaging the local media to
cover the event will also have a great impact on a larger scale. Having these influential figures
committing and promising that they will change their behavior and adopt a new social norm in
front of all the community members will encourage others to do the same. Even if some
participants are not particularly enthusiastic about the new course, witnessing a large number of
people committing to change behavior leads to form new empirical and normative expectations.
Public, credible promises have the function of creating a common belief that the new behavior
will be implemented, and the expectation of such behavior. Creating normative expectations,
however, is crucial in establishing the new behavior as a social norm.
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