Social Psychological Foundations of Change

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Social Psychological Foundations of Change

• Paul Duckett
• Gaskell Room E48
• 0161 247 2552
• p.duckett_at_mmu.ac.uk

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• Knowledge without action is insanity and action
  without knowledge is vanity.
• (Cited in Ahmed et al., 2003)

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Action Research

• There is nothing as practical as good theory.
  (Lewin quoted by de Board, 1978)
• Action research sets out both to make scientific
  discoveries and to solve practical problems
  (Clark, 1976).

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The Action Research Cycle
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Action Research

• Documenting distress
• RESEARCH
• Intervening to alleviate distress
• ACTION RESEARCH
• Action Research
• (Lather, 1987)
• Participatory Action Research
• (Whyte, 1991 Gatenby, Humphries, 2000)
• Praxis
• Action, research and reflection

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Multi-level change
Social Psychological Foundations of Change
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Multi-level action
?

• Clinical Psychology
• Family Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Organisational Change
• Community Education
• Pressure Groups
• Lobbying

• Individual
• Family
• Group
• Organisation
• Community
• Societal
• Political

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Disability and Employment Project

• Welfare benefit advice
• Support Groups
• Consultancy Groups
• Teaching at Uni
• Committee Membership
• Political Lobbying

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Minority Influence

• USofAmerica Soc Psy focused on how the majority
  influenced minorities (e.g., Solomon Asch
  experiments)
• Europe focused on how minority groups can affect
  the majority (e.g., Moscovici, et al., 1969)
• A minority can influence majority opinion if the
  minority appears
• Strong and self-confident
• Consistent (but not rigid)
• To adopt a negotiating style, showing a
  willingness to compromise
• Flexible (ie willing to consider opposing
  arguments)

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Group Exercise

• Think of instances in which a minority group has
  been or might be more influential than the
  majority
• Share personal situations in which you yourself
  were influenced by a minority view or even an
  individual's view
• Identity a current issue where you feel a
  minority group needs to create organisational
  change so as to influence a majority group on an
  important social issue

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Explanations for Minority and Majority Influence

• Moscovicis two-process model of influence
• Different processes are involved in majority and
  minority influence
• Majority influence occurs on a public level and
  results from normative social influence
• A person conforming to a majority does not
  necessarily accept the majority's position
• Minority influence occurs on a private level and
  comes about because the minority convinces
  majority members to change opinion (informational
  social influence)
• Minority influence brings about both public
  compliance and private acceptance

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Normative Social Influence

• Behaviour change results from movement toward a
  social norm
• Goal is to be socially accepted and to avoid
  appearing different to others
• Behaviour change does not reflect true beliefs
• Attitude change (if any) and behaviour change are
  weak and unstable more open to change
• The power of normative influence was shown in a
  classic experiment by Sherif (1936)
• Social norms are at the heart of conformity

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Informational Social Influence

• Behaviour change results from being persuaded by
  information provided by others
• Behaviour change reflects a true change in one's
  underlying beliefs
• Attitude and behaviour change tend to be strong
  and stable, and resistant to change

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Community Change

• 4 APPROACHES
• Social action
• Community development
• Consciousness raising
• Policy advocacy

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Social Power
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BREAK (20mins)
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Case Study (Live)Seroxat and SSRI User Group

• Video viewing - Panorama documentary (50mins)
• Seroxat story and key players (10mins)
• Document analysis (30mins)
• Stakeholder analysis (40mins)
• Brainstorm change strategies for SUG
  Evaluation of the Days teaching (60mins)

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Seroxat and SSRI User Group
http//www.seroxatusergroup.org.uk/
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The Key Players

• MHRA
• Government
• DoH
• MPs
• Labour
• Conservative
• Liberal Democratic Party
• Pharmaceutical industry
• GSK
• Medicine and Allied Professions
• Psychiatry (Royal College of Psychiatrists)
• Psychology (British Psychological Society)

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The Key Players
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Government
EMEA
CHM
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Psy-industry
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Document Analysis (30mins)

• Meetings
• EMEA
• Dept of Health
• PM

• Main
• MHRA
• HCSC
• Defeat Depression
• GSK

Other docs NESTA funding, press cuttings,
Websites (SUG, Seroxat Secrets, Hugh James), List
of abbrev., CPUK statement
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SUGs Targets for Change

• Prescription practices
• Improve the advice given by GPs to patients
• Warning labels on packaging (PIL)
• Responsibilities of the DoH
• For responsibilities for protecting the interests
  of the UK pharmaceutical industry be transferred
  from the Dept of Health to the Department of
  Trade and Industry
• Support
• Help fund the setting up and evaluation of
  self-help support groups for SSRI users
  (supported by MMU)
• Restorative and Retributive justice
• Compensation for victims
• Industry fined for causing social harm

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Permission to Audio Record
Recording will be sent to SUG to help them in
their work
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SUG Stakeholder Analysis

• Who stands to lose or gain significantly from
  the proposed change?
• Whose actions could potentially affect the
  success of the proposed change?

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(No Transcript)
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Break
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SUG strategies for change

• Prescription practices
• GPs advice to patients
• Warning labels on packaging
• Responsibilities of the DoH
• Transfer from DoH to the DTI
• Support
• Fund self-help support groups
• Restorative and Retributive justice
• Compensate victims
• Fine industry

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SUGs Targets for Change

• Prescription practices
• Improve the advice given by GPs to patients
• 1) ____________________________________________
• 2) ____________________________________________
• 3) ____________________________________________
• Warning labels on packaging
• 1) ____________________________________________
• 2) ____________________________________________
• 3) ____________________________________________

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SUGs Targets for Change

• Responsibilities of the DoH
• For responsibilities for protecting the interests
  of the UK pharmaceutical industry be transferred
  from the Dept of Health to the Department of
  Trade and Industry
• 1) ____________________________________________
• 2) ____________________________________________
• 3) ____________________________________________

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SUGs Targets for Change

• Support
• Help fund the setting up and evaluation of
  self-help support groups for SSRI users
  (supported by MMU)
• 1) ____________________________________________
• 2) ____________________________________________
• 3) ____________________________________________

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SUGs Targets for Change

• Restorative and Retributive justice
• Compensation for the Victims
• Industry fined for causing social harm
• 1) ____________________________________________
• 2) ____________________________________________
• 3) ____________________________________________