Contents

It is argued that a central aim of the CYWR trial is to restore social norms and local Indigenous authority. The introduction of the FRC is a critical part of the trial, as it is a key mechanism for shifting behaviour from compliance-type responses to internalisation. Based on the trial documents, one way to conceptualise the FRC is that it is an authority with powers to uphold social order through compliance-type incentives (e.g. do X to ensure payment Y). As a result, the community should experience respite from negative events and have direct evidence that things ‘can improve and be different’. This awareness that different or higher ‘self-efficacy’.8 standards are achievable is referred to in social psychology as Specifically, when one has high self-efficacy, one is more likely to initiate and persist with behaviours aimed at achieving a desired result. Empirical evidence suggests that high levels of self-efficacy predict behaviour change in a variety of domains; including social skills, smoking cessation and sports performance.9 A belief that things can change and improve can build community momentum towards social norm and behaviour change. But the FRC is also designed to build wider consensus around a (new) set of values and beliefs concerning what is appropriate behaviour and to ensure that individuals and families are supported in ways that enable such behaviour to flourish. To the extent that it is seen as a legitimate authority, the FRC thus serves an important leadership function. Senior members of the FRC are Indigenous, and local Indigenous counsellors and elders are in place to support the community members and the activities of the FRC. Such leadership is considered vital in influencing others through clarifying and communicating a new community narrative and identity (‘who we are’), building cohesion and mobilising the community to work more effectively together to solve problems, and modelling behaviour surrounding the new emerging social norms (that the FRC is working to shape and uphold). Another way to think about the FRC, therefore, is that it is a place where the meaning of being a community member and associated ‘norms’ are negotiated and defined. It reflects and clarifies for all members of the community the specific behaviours that are considered acceptable or unacceptable. It also serves to support individuals and families, through case management and the coordination of services, to develop the skills and capabilities necessary to participate and live up to the (aspirational) community standards. It is expected that over time these behaviours will become internalised as a new community standard and will be self-reinforcing. An indication of internalisation will be evidence that individuals and families are taking more responsibility for their economic and social conditions and are working better together to improve community life. This process is shown in Figure 5.1, which shows how the activities of the FRC are intended to create change in community functioning at the observable behavioural level through a process of social norm change, strengthening community leadership and evoking a sense of individual and family responsibility. Conceptually, therefore, people’s engagement with and endorsement of the FRC, as well as their perceptions of strong leadership and internalisation of individual/family responsibility norms, are explanatory variables that make change in current behaviours possible. The theory of social norm and behaviour change that underpins the CYWR trial is well grounded in social psychology theory and research. In this chapter, the aim is to explain in more detail the social psychology of social and behavioural change and then apply this analysis to the responses from the trial social change survey. A critical question is whether there is any evidence to date that the FRC and related elements of the CYWR trial have impacted on community leadership and individual and family responsibility and whether these factors are

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