The P o w e r
of Positive Deviance
Solutions before our very eyes
The Premise:
In every community there are certain individuals whose
uncommon practices/behaviors enable them to find better
solutions to problems than their neighbors who have access
to the same resources
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Positive Deviance (PD)
Approach
• Identifying Solutions to Community
Problems Within the Community Today
The Key Question?
What enables some members of the community
(the “Positive Deviants”) to find better solutions
to pervasive problems than their neighbors who
have access to the same resources?
2
The Positive Deviance
Inquiry
• The community must discover what the
PDs are doing that is different from their
neighbors
The PD Inquiry is the tool that
enables the community to
discover the uncommon PD
behaviors/strategies
3
Establishes community behavioral norms
related to the problem to be
addressed
Uncovers successful uncommon behaviors/
strategies practiced by the Positive Deviants
4
PDI findings are passed through a
conceptual “accessibility sieve”
Only those behaviors/strategies
accessible to all are kept
The rest are “TBU,” True but Useless (i.e.
not accessible to all) and are discarded
5
Focus on PD Behavior
• We can’t (yet) clone people
• But we can adopt their successful
behaviors/strategies
6
PD Focus on Practice
Rather than Knowledge
“It’s easier to ACT your way into a new way of THINKING,
than to
THINK your way into a new way of ACTING”
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PD Enables us to Act TODAY
Although most problems have complex, interlinked
underlying causes . . .
The presence of Positive Deviants demonstrates that it is
possible to find successful solutions TODAY before all
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the underlying causes are addressed!
PD Inquiry is an “Ends” as well as “Means”
and MUST be repeated in each Community
MEANS
To discover successful,
replicable PD behaviors
ENDS
To empower community to discover and “own” their
own solution, based on their own resources 9
The Six Ds of Positive Deviance
Approach
Define
• Define the problem, its perceived causes and
related current practices (situation analysis)
• Define what a successful solution/outcome would
look like (described as a behavioral or status
outcome)
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• Determine if there are any individuals/entities in
community who ALREADY exhibit desired behavior or
status (PD identification)
12
• Discover uncommon practices/behaviors enabling
the PDs to outperform/find better solutions to
the problem than others in their “community”
13
D
• Design and implement activities enabling others in
“community” to access and PRACTICE new
behaviors (focus on “doing” rather than transfer of
knowledge)
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community
Discern
• Discerns the effectiveness of activities or
project through ongoing monitoring and evaluation
15
Disseminate
• Disseminate successful process to
appropriate “other” (scaling up)
16
Define
• Define the problem:
Children from poor families are malnourished
Commercial sex workers (CSWs) are unable to get
clients to use condoms
• Define successful solution/outcome (behavior or status):
Children from poor families are well nourished
Commercial sex workers are able to get clients to
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always use condoms
• Determine if there are any individuals who already
exhibit desired behavior (Identify PDs) :
There are some children from poor families who are
well nourished
Some commercial sex workers are always able to
negotiate condom use
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• Discover PDs successful practices/strategies :
PD families using active feeding and feeding children
uncommon but nutritious foods, and feeding more
frequently
Commercial sex workers carry their own condoms,
possess special negotiating strategies, including taking
onus off client and relating risk to own status
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D
• Design intervention enabling others to practice new
behaviors :
Create a Nutrition Program to which parents of
malnourished children bring daily contributions of
uncommon PD foods, practice active feeding
Enlist willing commercial sex workers as peer
educators, sharing and role playing successful
condom use strategies with other CSWs
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Discern
• Discern effectiveness of intervention (M/E):
Measure change in nutritional status of
children in program and spillover effect on all
children in community over time
Measure CSW’s reported increase in exclusive
condom use
21
Disseminate
• Disseminate to Appropriate Others:
Create a “Living University” (Social Laboratory)
where others wishing to replicate the program come
for hands-on participation in successful ongoing
programs
Create a “Living University” (Social Laboratory)
where others wishing to replicate the program come
for hands-on participation in successful ongoing
programs
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Positive Deviance
Discern
Design
Discover
Determine
Define
Disseminate
ISSUE
Illustrative Uses Of Positive
Deviance
“COMMUNITY”
PD BEHAVIOR/STATUS
HIV/AIDS






Brothel Clients
Commercial Sex Worker
Drug Users
Adolescents
Law Enforcement Agents
Widows of AIDS victims





GOOD NUTRITION STATUS


Residents w/high obesity
Poor Villages with high
incidence of malnutrition

ETHNIC CONFLICT
TRAFFICKING OF GIRLS


Exclusive condom use
Exclusive condom use
Use of clean needles
Exc. condom use/Abstinence
No punishment condom
poss.
Able support children


Well nourished/non-obese
Poor well nourished child
Communities with high
incidence of conflict

Community w/no conflict
Communities with high
incidence of trafficking

Families with no girls
trafficked

Mothers exclusively BF






Resting last mo. pregnancy
Doing work for wives
Girls attending school
Not circumcised
Against FGM
Married uncircumcised
women
Openly opposed to practice
EXCLUSIVE BF

Mothers of infants <6mos.
HEALTHY PREGNANCY


Pregnant women
Husbands of Pregnant
women
School age girls
Girls 8-13 years old
Parents/grandparents
Husbands
Religious leaders
ACCESS GIRLS EDUCATION
ERRADICATION FGC






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