Social Norms

The Unwritten Rules of Sexual Violence

What are social norms?

• Expected behaviors that are agreed upon by a social group

• Unwritten rules for behavior in specific situations

Where do social norms come from?

Family PeersMedia Institutions

What do social norms do?

• Provide us with guidelines (e.g. rules or scripts) for how to behave in certain

situations

• Provide order, structure, and predictability to our lives

Social norms violations

Sanctions Positive Negative

Internal

Satisfaction

Pride

Confidence

Embarrassment

Shame

Frustration

External

Praise

Encouragement

Inclusion

Disapproval

Humiliation

Ostracism

Ways we can be misled

• Pluralistic Ignorance – Occurs when people in a group disagree with a social norm, but assume others in the group accept it, so they go along with it.

• False Consensus – Occurs when an individual incorrectly assumes others feel the same as they do.

• False Uniqueness – Occurs when an individual incorrectly assumes they are the only person in a particular group that feels a certain way about something.

How does this relate to sexual violence?

Extermination

Physical Attack

Discrimination

Avoidance

Anti-locution

• Anti-locution – Communicates prejudice with others

• Avoidance – Subtle behaviors toward target

• Discrimination – Changes in behavior become actions

• Physical Attack – Against person or property

• Extermination – The elimination of out-group members

Where we’re going with this

• An environment in which discrimination and harassment are not tolerated

• Employees feel safe and empowered to address offensive behavior

• Those who engage in inappropriate behavior are held accountable

• Create a culture where we look out for one another

• Enter – The bystander

Questions?