Using Social Norms Approaches to Abandon Corporal Punishment as a Key Element of
Unfriendly School Environment-
Janet Tucker submitted for Penn-UNICEF Course on
Advances in Social Norms and Social Change 2012
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background
The Right to Education is one of the fundamental human rights for every child, girls and boys alike,
enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Sierra Leone’s Child Rights Act (2007).It is
the responsibility of duty bearers to ensure that children access education in safe and protective learning
environment. Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child prohibits torture, and any form of
physical and psychological violence against the child.
However, Corporal punishment (flogging, hitting, standing/kneeling in the sun, etc.) is practised nationwide
in schools as a social norm. Corporal punishment increases risk of child abuse, and the fear of it scars
away children from school, thus negatively affecting regular school attendance and retention. Most people
in Sierra Leone, regardless of their educational status and religious background, believe in the use of
corporal punishment as the most appropriate form of discipline for children. They believe that corporal
punishment is the language of discipline that the African child best understands for compliance (factual
belief). They anchor the legitimacy of this belief in the biblical idea of ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’
(Proverbs 23: 13,14,29).
Research findings (Coinco/UNICEF 2008)show that teachers (about 95%) practise corporal punishment in
schools as a form of discipline for children. Even at home we see that parents use corporal punishment to
discipline their children (Empirical Expectations). Teachers who fail to use corporal punishment are
frowned upon, regarded as weak and spoiling the children, who may turn out to be social
deviants.(sanction).There are a few teachers who like alternative methods of discipline on children, but
they prefer to use corporal punishment, because everybody else is using it.(conditional preference).
Since parents believe that teachers ought to use corporal punishment as the best form of discipline for
children, corporal punishment is widely used in schools(Normative Expectations)
Desired Outcome -Shift in Expectations
We would like to see a shift in expectations in favour of positive alternative discipline in schools. We hope
to work with teachers, and other stakeholder to see corporal punishment as a harmful social norm that
should be abandoned and create and adopt a new norm of Positive Alternative Discipline.(Mackie). We are
starting with schools as an entry point and hope that with time we will extend the approach to the rest of
the communities. Even though we are addressing corporal punishment now, our overall goal is to build the
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
motivation of teachers, parents and other stakeholders to understand and respect children’s human right
on a wider scope..
Change in Practice
We will use strategies based on two case studies learned from the course: The Foot binding intervention
model in China(makie)and The domestic violence reduction case study in Barrancabermeja–Colombia
(Corpovisionarios)
1. Use core groups in relevant Reference Networks to facilitate collective public deliberations and
diffusion (Mackie, Mercier, ) on the benefits of alternative discipline to influence people’s schemata
and scripts ( Bicchieri), through mass media and coordinated community meetings, social media,
C4D communication tools, community theatre, role plays; to generate common knowledge, public
pledges and collective action for change. Encourage relevant networks to influence their respected
strong ties, for them to utilize weak ties to extend the messages to other component
networks.(Muldoon)
2. Support development of action plans to implement and monitor the enforcement of positive
Alternative Discipline and enact sanction for deviance and reward for compliance to create
confidence within relevant networks(Bicchieri)
3. Review of the code of conduct, Child Rights Act to integrate the Positive Alternative Discipline
measures agreed by stakeholders.
Target Groups
Relevance networks will include teachers, heads of schools, school management committees, child
welfare committees, children’s clubs, Ministry of Education, community opinion leaders, school Board of
Governors, Sierra Leone Teachers Union and their core groups.
Conclusion
Since children spend most of the time in school and teachers are logo parentis and role models for
children, who are entrusted into their care, there is need to create and maintain a child-friendly school
environment to protect every child from abuse, exploitation and violence. There is need to work with
stakeholders to see reason to abandon corporal punishment and adopt Positive Alternative discipline.
UNICEF has not been using the social norm approach in the past in their human right- based approach to
programming. However there is empirical evidence that social norm approach is crucial for sustained
behaviour change interventions.
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
FULL CASE STUDY -Using Social Norms Approaches to Abandon Corporal Punishment
Background
The Right to Education is one of the fundamental human rights for every child, girls and boys alike,
enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Sierra Leone’s Child Rights Act
(2007). Everybody, including the government, parents and communities are responsible to see that
every child has access to free basic quality education in a safe and protective environment. Article 37
of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child prohibits torture, and any form of physical and
psychological violence against the child. Since cchildren spend most of the time in school and
teachers are logo parentis, custodians and role models for children, who are entrusted into their care,
there is need to create and maintain a child-friendly school environment to protect every child from
abuse, exploitation and violence; advance the right of the child to express his or her views freely and
to be heard, and thereby promote increased enrolment, retention and completion of school.
Corporal Punishment –Unfriendly school Environment
However, Children’s education in Sierra Leone is strewn with a lot of problems, including teenage
pregnancy, child marriage, corporal punishment, sexual exploitation and abuse; which deny access of
about 300,000 school-age children to basic education (Coinco/UNICEF, 2008.) According to the OutOf-School research findings (2008), the school environment is largely unfriendly. Teachers who are
expected to establish and maintain a professional relationship with children, parents and the
community, levy extra charges and use corporal punishment and psychological humiliation and
torture, creating an intimidating classroom environment. Corporal Punishment is used nationwide as
the main form of punishment. According to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, corporal
punishment is defined as:
“any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to
Cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light:
In the context of this case study corporal punishment is taken to mean physical punishments such as:
caning, flogging, standing/kneeling long in the sun, working long hours in the school or in teachers’
private gardens. Corporal punishment increases risk of child abuse and the fear of it scars away
children from school, thus negatively affecting regular school attendance and retention.
Corporal Punishment as a social Norm
A ‘‘Social Norm is a pattern of behaviour such that individuals prefer to conform to it on condition that
most people in their relevant network conform to it(empirical expectations)and they believe that most
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
people in their relevant network believe they ought to conform to it’’(normative expectations)(C.
Bicchieri). Corporal punishment has been in existence for a very long time both in school and at
home, handed down from one generation to the other. Most people in Sierra Leone, regardless of their
educational status and religious background, believe in the use of corporal punishment as the most
appropriate form of discipline for children. They believe that corporal punishment is the language of
discipline that the African child best understands for compliance (factual belief). They anchor the
legitimacy of this belief in the biblical idea of ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ (Proverbs 23: 13,14,29).
Research findings (Coinco/UNICEF 2008) show that teachers (about 95%) practise corporal punishment in
schools as a form of discipline for children. Even at home we see that parents use corporal punishment to
discipline their children (Empirical Expectations). Teachers who fail to use corporal punishment are
frowned upon, regarded as weak and spoiling the children, who may turn out to be social
deviants.(sanction).There are a few teachers who like alternative methods of discipline on children, but
they prefer to use corporal punishment, because everybody else is using it.(conditional preference).
Since parents believe that teachers ought to use corporal punishment as the best form of discipline for
children, corporal punishment is widely used in schools(Normative Expectations). Consequently
children frequently absent themselves from school due to fear, perform poorly and drop out of school
either voluntarily or are withdrawn by their parents. For many parents it is a daily choice between
sending children to school and putting food on the table (Coinco/UNICEF).
Desired Outcome - Shift in Expectations
We would like to see a shift in expectations in the schools in favour of positive alternative discipline.
We hope to work with teachers, school authorities, the Ministry of Education Science and Technology,
the Sierra Leone Teachers Union, children and other stakeholders to see corporal punishment as a
harmful social norm that should be abandoned, and support them to create and adopt a new norm of
Positive Alternative Discipline.(Mackie). We want to tackle corporal punishment in schools as an entry
point and hope that with time we will extend the approach to the rest of the communities to eradicate it
in the homes. We are relying on reference networks to use both strong and weak ties for sustained
public deliberations and diffusion on the advantages and disadvantages of Positive Alternative
Discipline and corporal punishment respectively, in order to generate common knowledge for
coordinated collective action. Even though we are addressing corporal punishment now, our overall
goal is to build the motivation of teachers, parents and other stakeholders to understand and respect
children’s human right on a wider scope.
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
Interventions Strategies that may apply
We will use strategies based on two case studies learned from the course:
•
The Foot binding intervention model in China
•
The domestic violence reduction case study in Barrancabermeja–Colombia
(Corpovisionarios)
Aspects of the Foot binding model (Mackie)as it relates to this case study:

Use education campaign to publicise the disadvantages of corporal punishment and
the advantages of Positive Alternative Discipline

Organize public information campaign and mass meetings

Organize Positive Alternative Discipline Committees and replicate across schools
and communities in Sierra Leone

Long school and community deliberations
Aspects
of
the
Domestic
Violence
Reduction
Model
in
Barrancabermeja,
Colombia-
Corpovisionarios) as it relates to this case study

Whistle blowing against corporal punishment

Theatre –forum – to educate on the disadvantages of corporal punishment and
advantages of positive Alternative discipline

Collective decision to enact change

Relationship with media and local government institutions

Sustained public deliberations and diffusion
Evaluation of Work so far
To address the issue of child-friendly school environment, corporal punishment inclusive, in addition
to the enactment of Child Right Act(2007) as an Act of Parliament to domesticate the CRC, a Code of
Conduct for Teachers and Other Education Personnel was developed by a Team of Representatives
from the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Sierra Leone Teachers Union, Academic
Institutions and NGOs. Furthermore Community bye-laws were developed to support community
participation in school management and maintenance of child-friendly school environment. Though
consultations were conducted and stakeholders’ inputs incorporated into the documents and training
of stakeholders on the content of the Code in relation to children’s rights; yet the enforcement is not
effective. Positive Alternative Discipline was not identified and integrated into the document. The
issue of corporal punishment has not been brought to public domain for public discussions and
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
collective action, like in the case of the domestic violence in - Barrancabermeja, Colombia. Reference
networks were not targeted for public deliberation for generation of common knowledge, commitment
for collective action and organized diffusion. There was no public deliberations and commitment for
coordinated action for the enforcement of the documents. Core crops within Reference networks were
not identified for effective engagement with teachers, school authorities and the communities in the
diffusion of common knowledge about alternative schema and script. There is no harmonization of
regulatory systems of legal, moral and social norms. There is in fact a conflict between empirical
expectations and legal norms, so people continue to use corporal punishment (empirical expectation).
Change in Practice -Process of Change
4. Use core groups in relevant Reference Networks to facilitate collective public
deliberations (Mackie, Mercier) on the benefits of alternative discipline to influence
people’s schemata and scripts (Bicchieri) using Mass media and coordinated
community meetings.
5. Support sustained public engagement through: social media, C4D communication
tools, community theatre, role plays, community meetings to generate common
knowledge, public pledges and collective action for change.
6. Support Use Organized Diffusion Model -Using
core groups within Reference
networks to diffuse messages within their networks and encourage relevant networks
to influence their respected strong ties, for them to utilize weak ties to extend the
messages to other component networks.(Muldoon)
7. Support development of action plans to implement positive Alternative Discipline –to
create confidence within relevant networks(Bicchieri)
8. Monitoring of the implementation of the action plan by all stakeholders
9. Enact sanction for deviance and reward for compliance – e.g whistle blowing
(Corpovisionarios)
10. Review of the code of conduct, Child Rights Act to integrate the Positive Alternative
Discipline measures agreed by stakeholders
11. Support collaboration with the media and government institutions for diffusion and
implementation(Corpovisionarios)
12. Support establishment of Positive Alternative Discipline Committees (Foot binding)
Identify relevant networks for effective engagement with teachers and communities to
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
generate
common knowledge
and diffuse the advantages of Positive Alternative
Discipline.
Target Groups
No.
Reference Network
Core Group(s)
1
Teachers, Principals and Head
teachers, Sierra Leone Teachers
Union(SLTU)
Council of Head Teachers and Conference of
Principles of secondary Schools, SLTU Focal Points
for the Code of Conduct for Teachers.
2
School Management Committees,
PTA/CTA, Child Welfare Committees ,
Board of Governors
3
Parents, guardians, caregivers
Mothers clubs, new Committees on Positive
Alternative Discipline
4
Children
Children’s Network Forum(CFN), children’s clubs
5
Civil Society and Community-Based
Organisations
Caucus groups, Send-your-child-to-school
Ambassadors
6
Community opinion leaders
Chiefs, respected elders, youth leaders, women
leaders
7
NGOs
Board of Governors, PTA and CTA
representatives
Education and Child rights Organisations
8
Government institutions
Ministry of Education, Local Councils
9
Universities and Teacher Training
colleges
Focal Points of Code of Conduct, Child Centred
Teaching Techniques and Emerging Issues
10
11
The Media
Religious Groups
New Committees to be established
Pastors/Reverends and Imams
Conclusion
Since children spend most of the time in school and teachers are logo parentis and role models for
children, who are entrusted into their care, there is need to create and maintain a child-friendly school
environment to protect every child from abuse, exploitation and violence. We need to work with )
stakeholders to see reason to abandon corporal punishment and adopt Positive Alternative discipline.
Core groups within Reference Networks will be targeted for organised public deliberations and
diffusion to generate common knowledge for collective action to abandon the old empirical
expectations(corporal punishment)and create new normative
and empirical expectations(positive
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
alternative discipline) (R. Muldoon),(C. Bicchieri. UNICEF has not been using the social norm approach
in the past in their human right- based approach to programming. However there is empirical evidence that
social norm approach is crucial for sustained behaviour change interventions..
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms
REFERENCES
1. The Out-Of-School Children of Sierra Leone, UNICEF, Sierra Leone –August 2008
2. A Glimpse into the world of Teenage Pregnancy in sierra Leone – UNICEF Sierra
Leone –June 2010
3. ‘Give Us a Chance- - National Study on School-Related Gender-Based Violence in
Sierra Leone , Concern worldwide, Catholic Relief Services, IBIS, Plan 2010
4. UN committee on the Rights of the Child(2001) “General Comment No. 1 par 11
5. Glossary of terms for the Penn-UNICEF 2012 Summer Program on Advances in
Social Norms and Social Change
6. Social Dynamics of Norm Shift - G. Mackie
7. Values Deliberations and Norm Shift - G. Mackie
8. What Matters about social norms – C. Bicchieri
9. The Grammar of Society: The nature and Dynamics of Social Norms – C. Bicchieri
10. . Building “citizenship culture” in Bogotá- Antanas Mockus
11. Norm and Beliefs: How Change Occurs – C. Bicchieri
12. Social Network Analysis - R. Muldoon
13.
Janet Tucker –Case Study on Abandoning Corporal Punishment through Social Norm Approaches –
Penn/UNICEF Course of Advances in Social Norms