Corruption is often driven by complex social dynamics and informal rules, as the social consequences of failing to adhere to collective expectations can have a powerful influence on individual behaviour. For anti-corruption efforts to function more effectively, it is vital to understand how corruption becomes sustained as a collective practice and to identify the social drivers that determine what actions are acceptable to or disapproved of by citizens.
The limitations of top-down approaches to anti-corruption in Nigeria are increasingly being counteracted by awareness and uptake of social norms or behavioural change interventions, which seek to adapt beliefs and expectations at the community level.
Such efforts are a pivotal factor in moving towards a whole-of-system approach to anti-corruption, but both policymakers and practitioners have a responsibility to ensure that behavioural interventions are guided by a strong evidence base which enables sensitivity around complex local dynamics, fragmented identities and underlying practical considerations.
This conference will examine the impact and drivers of corruption in Nigeria; the effectiveness of anti-corruption interventions, particularly those in the behavioural change space; and the value of the available evidence base of citizens’ expectations, understandings and experiences of corruption, and how these relate to social norms.
It will also launch and discuss the latest research outputs from the Chatham House Africa Programme’s work on Nigeria under its Social Norms and Accountable Governance (SNAG) project, supported by the MacArthur Foundation.
This conference is supported by the MacArthur Foundation. It will be broadcast live on the Africa Programme Facebook page.
