The inquest into the tragic death of 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck has cast a harsh light on the pervasive issue of sexual harassment within the British Army.
On BBC Radio 4’s The World at One, one woman, an anonymous former Army officer, described how the Army culture means that women have to manage male egos to get by. This means women need to do a lot of emotional work merely to exist in that space. So, an assault can be catastrophic because their resilience is already low.
Observations on Social Silence
On the same programme, Mariette Hughes, service complaints officer for the armed forces, added “When other people see this behaviour happening and nobody else speaks out it leads to that very real fear that if I speak up, I’m going to be the person that’s made a fuss. I’m going to be the one that’s caused trouble.”
Despite clear rules against sexual harassment, these measures often fail to counteract deeply entrenched cultural norms.
The Role of Social Norms and Proof
When someone collapses in a busy street, most people walk by without offering assistance. This is often misinterpreted as callousness, in fact, it’s because passers-by are on a kind of autopilot. We behave as others behave, according to expectation, and when something out of the ordinary happens, we find it jarring to go against the crowd.
We are all subject to the influence of social proof. This is what’s behind the nudges from the Inland Revenue in which they remind you that X number of taxpayers in your position have come forward and made a voluntary disclosure. Most of us want to fit in.
Transforming Behaviour with Dramatized Storytelling
This is why showing video dramas featuring characters objecting to sexual harassment can positively change behaviour. Fictionalising an issue in a dramatized video also gives people license to discuss the issues in a safe way. Characters are not real people, so we can say what we like about them without comeback. In fact, if we make the drama sufficiently engaging, it’s hard not to want to talk about it. Like watching drama on TV with your family – you often can’t help but yell at the TV, telling the characters what to do.
Campaign-Driven Engagement for Lasting Change
Once a conversation has been instigated, you can keep it going with a campaign – announcing it first with trailers and posters; showing clips in sessions with moderated discussion; releasing clips with cliffhangers one at a time; and following up the clips with Gogglebox-style audience reaction videos. All these actions keep the discussion and the engagement rolling. This is how training can affect culture and behaviour.
A Proven Success
We did something along these lines as part of our work with Brighton & Hove Buses/Metrobus. Our short film You Can Make a Difference features a man commenting about the appearance of a female colleague, just a little over the line. She realises he didn’t mean to offend, but makes a complaint because she wants him to understand. A focus on such grey areas allow us to open up an issue. Viewers can empathise with both parties. This provides a framework to explore emotions and principles. The results can be instructive and healing.
This film, along with many others we produced for Brighton & Hove Buses/Metrobus, was the subject of a UK Bus Gold Award for Culture Change for training through dramatized storytelling.
The Power of Stories
The news tells us that unchecked, cultural norms can have tragic consequences. Changing cultural norms is not at all easy, but storytelling must be at the heart of it. It’s the stories we tell ourselves that justify our behaviour. It’s the stories we share that allow cultural norms to develop.
Stay Tuned
Keep an eye out for the interviews with representatives from Brighton & Hove Buses/Metrobus talking about the projects that relate to the culture change award. I shall be posting them all through March. You can also learn more by checking out the case studies here and here.
