Small Interventions Matter: How a Workplace Engagement Strategy Focused on Micro-interventions Can Mobilize Men in Violence Prevention and Gender Equality
Tracks
Room 3: In-Person Only
| Wednesday, November 27, 2024 |
| 11:15 AM - 11:45 AM |
| Room 3 |
Overview
Professor Lana Wells & Elizabeth Dozois, University of Calgary
Speaker
Elizabeth Dozois
Researcher
University of Calgary
Small Interventions Matter: How a Workplace Engagement Strategy Focused on Micro-interventions Can Mobilize Men in Violence Prevention and Gender Equality
11:45 AM - 12:15 PMAbstract
Domestic and sexual violence stand as significant public health concerns, carrying profound social, economic, and health repercussions for women, men, children, and entire communities. Efforts to tackle these issues increasingly spotlight the necessity of involving men in violence prevention; however, the practical methodologies for how to do this remain less defined. Programmatic approaches to violence prevention have often struggled to recruit and retain male participants and many have not demonstrated outcomes related to behaviour change This highlights the need to develop non-programmatic strategies within male-centric environments that transcend conventional programs and standardized interventions – ones that draw on an understanding of human behaviour to support long-term change.
The Changing Contexts Approach emerged from a 3-year University of Calgary led learning collaborative action research project aimed at addressing this gap. It focuses on developing, adapting, and mobilizing emerging research insights to pioneer innovative approaches for violence prevention within male-oriented settings. In 2020, the Calgary Police Service, Canada, recognized the potential of this approach and initiated a partnership with the University of Calgary to implement it within their organization. This collaboration aims to test the approach across the organization, with the overarching objective of reducing gender-based violence and promoting gender equity, recognizing these as fundamental factors underlying various forms of family violence.
This presentation highlights what we have learned on how to engage men in paramilitary organizations and will offer valuable insights gleaned from the experience, illustrating how to engage men in violence prevention in ways that reduce resistance, build the skills required for healthy relationships, and create sociocultural contexts that reinforce psychological safety, equity and belonging in male-dominated workplace settings.
Key Learnings:
1. How to create a successful community of practice that involves a diversity of partners to develop an evidence-informed approach to engage men in violence prevention,
2. A new violence prevention approach that is focused on micro-interventions to change culture in male-dominated environments.
3. High level insights on a workplace engagement strategy to advance violence prevention and gender equality.
The Changing Contexts Approach emerged from a 3-year University of Calgary led learning collaborative action research project aimed at addressing this gap. It focuses on developing, adapting, and mobilizing emerging research insights to pioneer innovative approaches for violence prevention within male-oriented settings. In 2020, the Calgary Police Service, Canada, recognized the potential of this approach and initiated a partnership with the University of Calgary to implement it within their organization. This collaboration aims to test the approach across the organization, with the overarching objective of reducing gender-based violence and promoting gender equity, recognizing these as fundamental factors underlying various forms of family violence.
This presentation highlights what we have learned on how to engage men in paramilitary organizations and will offer valuable insights gleaned from the experience, illustrating how to engage men in violence prevention in ways that reduce resistance, build the skills required for healthy relationships, and create sociocultural contexts that reinforce psychological safety, equity and belonging in male-dominated workplace settings.
Key Learnings:
1. How to create a successful community of practice that involves a diversity of partners to develop an evidence-informed approach to engage men in violence prevention,
2. A new violence prevention approach that is focused on micro-interventions to change culture in male-dominated environments.
3. High level insights on a workplace engagement strategy to advance violence prevention and gender equality.
Biography
Bio coming soon...
Professor Lana Wells
Associate Professor, Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence
University Of Calgary
Small Interventions Matter: How a Workplace Engagement Strategy Focused on Micro-interventions Can Mobilize Men in Violence Prevention and Gender Equality
Abstract
Domestic and sexual violence stand as significant public health concerns, carrying profound social, economic, and health repercussions for women, men, children, and entire communities. Efforts to tackle these issues increasingly spotlight the necessity of involving men in violence prevention; however, the practical methodologies for how to do this remain less defined. Programmatic approaches to violence prevention have often struggled to recruit and retain male participants and many have not demonstrated outcomes related to behaviour change This highlights the need to develop non-programmatic strategies within male-centric environments that transcend conventional programs and standardized interventions – ones that draw on an understanding of human behaviour to support long-term change.
The Changing Contexts Approach emerged from a 3-year University of Calgary led learning collaborative action research project aimed at addressing this gap. It focuses on developing, adapting, and mobilizing emerging research insights to pioneer innovative approaches for violence prevention within male-oriented settings. In 2020, the Calgary Police Service, Canada, recognized the potential of this approach and initiated a partnership with the University of Calgary to implement it within their organization. This collaboration aims to test the approach across the organization, with the overarching objective of reducing gender-based violence and promoting gender equity, recognizing these as fundamental factors underlying various forms of family violence.
This presentation highlights what we have learned on how to engage men in paramilitary organizations and will offer valuable insights gleaned from the experience, illustrating how to engage men in violence prevention in ways that reduce resistance, build the skills required for healthy relationships, and create sociocultural contexts that reinforce psychological safety, equity and belonging in male-dominated workplace settings.
Key Learnings:
1. How to create a successful community of practice that involves a diversity of partners to develop an evidence-informed approach to engage men in violence prevention,
2. A new violence prevention approach that is focused on micro-interventions to change culture in male-dominated environments.
3. High level insights on a workplace engagement strategy to advance violence prevention and gender equality.
The Changing Contexts Approach emerged from a 3-year University of Calgary led learning collaborative action research project aimed at addressing this gap. It focuses on developing, adapting, and mobilizing emerging research insights to pioneer innovative approaches for violence prevention within male-oriented settings. In 2020, the Calgary Police Service, Canada, recognized the potential of this approach and initiated a partnership with the University of Calgary to implement it within their organization. This collaboration aims to test the approach across the organization, with the overarching objective of reducing gender-based violence and promoting gender equity, recognizing these as fundamental factors underlying various forms of family violence.
This presentation highlights what we have learned on how to engage men in paramilitary organizations and will offer valuable insights gleaned from the experience, illustrating how to engage men in violence prevention in ways that reduce resistance, build the skills required for healthy relationships, and create sociocultural contexts that reinforce psychological safety, equity and belonging in male-dominated workplace settings.
Key Learnings:
1. How to create a successful community of practice that involves a diversity of partners to develop an evidence-informed approach to engage men in violence prevention,
2. A new violence prevention approach that is focused on micro-interventions to change culture in male-dominated environments.
3. High level insights on a workplace engagement strategy to advance violence prevention and gender equality.
Biography
Lana Wells is a top-ranked and globally respected scholar in the field of social work, public policy and violence prevention. She is a change-maker in advancing gender and social justice, equity, engaging and mobilizing men while advancing systems and structural change through collaboration and innovative policy approaches. She is currently an Associate Professor and the Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence in the Faculty of Social Work and Fellow at the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. She leads a primary prevention research lab called Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence (www.preventdomesticviolence.ca).
