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The P o w e rP o w e rof 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

What enables some members of the community(the “Positive Deviants”) to find better solutionsto pervasive problems than their neighbors who

have access to the same resources?

• Identifying Solutions to Community Problems Within the Community Today

The Key Question?

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The Positive Deviance Inquiry

The PD Inquiry is the tool that

enables the community to discover the uncommon PD

behaviors/strategies

• The community must discover what the PDs are doing that is different from their neighbors

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PD Inquiry

Establishes community behavioral normsnorms related to the problem to beaddressed

Uncovers successful uncommonuncommon behaviors/ strategiesbehaviors/ strategies practiced by the Positive Deviants

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Analyzing PD Findings

PDI findings are passed through a PDI findings are passed through a conceptual “accessibility sieve”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

PD

Behavio

rs

PD

Behavio

rsst

rate

gie

stra

tegi

ess

pract

ices

pract

ices

Accessible to

Accessible to

AllAll

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Focus on PD Focus on PD

BehaviorBehavior• We can’t (yet) clone people

• But we can adopt their successful behaviors/strategies

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PD Focus on Practice Rather than Knowledge

“It’s easier to ACTACT 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

The presence of Positive Deviants demonstrates that it is possible to find successful solutions TODAY before

all the underlying causes are addressed!

Although most problems have complex, interlinked underlying causes . . .

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PD Inquiry PD Inquiry is an “Ends” as well as is an “Ends” as well as “Means” and “Means” and MUSTMUST be repeated in each be repeated in each

CommunityCommunity

To discover successful, replicable PD behaviors

MEANS

ENDS

To empower community to discover and “own” their own solution, based on their own resources

The Six Ds of Positive Deviance Approach

D

DD

D

D

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DDefineefine

• 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)

StakeholdersStakeholders

community

community

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Determin

e• Determine if there are any individuals/entities in

community who ALREADY exhibit desired behavior or status (PD identification)

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Discover

• Discover uncommon practices/behaviors enabling the PDs to outperform/find better solutions to the problem than others in their “community”

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esign• Design and implement activities enabling

others in “community” to access and PRACTICE new behaviors (focus on “doing” rather than transfer of knowledge)

D

15

Discern• Discerns the effectiveness of activities or

project through ongoing monitoring and evaluation

community

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Disseminate• Disseminate successful process to

appropriate “other” (scaling up)

DisseminateDisseminate

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DDefineefine

• 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 always use condoms

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• 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

Determine

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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

Discover

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• 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

esignD

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DDiscerniscern

• 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

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DDisseminateisseminate

• 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

Positive Deviance

DDetermineetermine

DDiscoveriscover

DDesignesign

DDiscerniscernDDisseminateisseminate

DDefineefine

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ISSUE

HIV/AIDS GOOD NUTRITION STATUS ETHNIC CONFLICT TRAFFICKING OF GIRLS EXCLUSIVE BF HEALTHY PREGNANCY ACCESS GIRLS EDUCATION ERRADICATION FGC

“COMMUNITY” Brothel Clients Commercial Sex Worker Drug Users Adolescents Law Enforcement Agents Widows of AIDS victims Residents w/ high obesity Poor Villages with high

incidence of malnutrition Communities with high

incidence of conflict Communities with high

incidence of trafficking Mothers of infants <6mos. Pregnant women Husbands of Pregnant

women School age girls Girls 8-13 years old Parents/ grandparents Husbands Religious leaders

PD BEHAVIOR/STATUS 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 Community w/ no conflict 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

Illustrative Uses Of Positive Deviance