The strategy also draws in important ways on Native American wisdom, which is remarkably consistent with behavioral science in recognizing the relationships among behavior and the environmental conditions and events within which it is embedded, and the essential connections among people and their world. Cultures of recognition change brain chemistry in ways consistent with achievement and cooperation and inconsistent with aggression, and can dramatically change the atmosphere in an organization, home, or community.
Simple tools can increase levels of recognition substantially.
For example, Recognition Notes have, in a number of studies, been shown to be among the most powerful interventions ever discovered. Recognition Notes can also be combined with weekly or daily Recognition Circles in which oral recognition is shared among all participants. Family Recognition Boards, erasable white boards on which family members can mutually note positives experienced from each other, can be used to further extend the practice of recognition into the home. Using these tools, the people involved can tailor the form and wording of recognition in ways that are consistent with cultural differences, and select those actions and contributions for recognition that are culturally valued. At a larger community level, media outlets are often willing and even eager to become involved in violence prevention efforts.