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SUMMARY AND METHODOLOGY

STAGE

1

What’s Been Done

Stage 1 of the

Multi-Country Study on the Drivers of Violence

Affecting Children

involves three components: a systematic

literature review of academic papers, including theses

and dissertations in national languages not typically used

in conventional searches; secondary analyses of existing

datasets analysed by national statistical teams in-country;

and a preliminary mapping of each country’s interventions

landscape, focusing on evaluated programmes. More than

500 research studies were reviewed. Secondary analyses were

conducted on 10 national datasets across the four countries.

A manual for Stage 1,

Understanding the Drivers of Violence:

A Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting Preliminary Research

Around What Drives Violence,

is available on the Innocenti

website.*

Applied Research and Intervention

Development: What’s Next?

Suggested citation:

Maternowska, M. C., A. Potts and D. Fry. (2016).

The Multi-Country Study on

the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children: A Cross-Country Snapshot of Findings

,

UNICEF Office of Research, Florence, Italy.

*www.unicef-irc.org/research/pdf/432-MCS_Stage-1-How-to-Guide-2015.pdf

Details on all findings summarized in this brief, by country, can be found on the

Innocenti website and relevant UNICEF Country Office websites:

THE FINDINGS

Findings from the four countries demonstrate how levels of the

socio-ecological framework are inter-connected.

The

structural drivers

of violence identified across the four

country sites, representing high (Italy), upper middle (Peru),

lower middle (Viet Nam) and low-income (Zimbabwe) settings

include: rapid socio-economic transformations accompanied

by economic growth but also instability, poverty, migration and

gender inequality. The

institutional drivers

of violence, such as

legal structures, ineffective child protection systems, weak school

governance and harmful social and cultural norms, often serve to

reinforce children’s vulnerabilities.

Drivers are rarely isolated factors and tend to work in potent

combination with other factors within a single level as well as

between levels of the social ecology that shapes children’s lives.

While some drivers can lead to positive change for children, in

this study, these factors or combinations of factors are most often

invisible forms of harm in and of themselves.

While violence affecting children is present in every country,

the analyses also show how violence conspires unevenly to

create and maintain inequalities between and within countries.

The institutions and communities, upon which children and

their families depend, are changing social entities with many

interdependent parts. The type of violence in any one or multiple

settings may vary depending on a variety of

risk

or

protective

factors

and/or by age and gender.

One of the most important findings is that violence is a fluid and

shifting phenomenon in children’s lives as they move between the

places where they live, play, sleep and learn.

Identifying and addressing unequal power dynamics – wherever

they may occur in the home, school or community – is of central

importance to effective violence prevention. The research also

shows how behaviours around violence are passed through

generations suggesting that the social tolerance of these

behaviours is learned in childhood. Data across countries also

shows how violence is intimately connected to how relationships

are structured and defined by power dynamics within and among

families, peers and communities.

This is the kind of data that drives change.

PAGE

8

THE PROCESS

Governments participating in the

Multi-Country Study on the

Drivers of Violence Affecting Children

wanted to know why

violence was happening and how it might be addressed.

Prevalence and incidence surveys capture static understandings

of the scale of the problem but do not necessarily inform better

prevention programming. Unpacking the drivers of violence and

how they interact with the risk or protective factors that children

face on a daily basis begins to explain the complexities of – as well

as potential solutions to – violence prevention.

Drawing on the skills of governmental statistics offices and

ministries, national academics and UNICEF Country Offices,

research teams in four countries set out to analyze existing national

data on violence prevention and response. The learning process

was not simple: searching far-and-wide for new information;

training in new statistical and social science methodologies in

order to re-analyze findings; allowing local actors to reflect and

convene; and brokering new alliances across ministries has taken

time. National ownership of the process and outcomes has made

a difference.

Already, governments involved are shifting their approach:

violence prevention has entered the public dialogue; evidence

generated is informing national and regional agendas and plans.

In all countries, the process has created new budget allocations

for violence prevention. Previously disconnected ministries are

now working together.

STAGE

2

Each country’s National Steering Committee will conduct

a stakeholder analysis and prioritization exercise. They will

use Stage 1 evidence to identify the type (physical, sexual

or emotional) and locus (home, school, community) of

violence for Stage 2 focus.

Focused interventions’ mapping will yield insights on

existing programmes addressing the type of violence

chosen, what works (or not), and potential sites for future

applied research.

An Understanding Pathways Workshop will develop

nationally-based theories of change to guide the applied

research.

National teams will assess and improve selected policies

and interventions using a mixed methods approach with

attention to social norms.

www.unicef-irc.org/research/274