The Positive Deviance Initiative<\/a> defines Positive Deviance as an approach that realizes “…that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their peers, while having access to the same resources and facing similar or worse challenges.”<\/span><\/p>\n

This methodology has been used by the Initiative in a wide variety of contexts. \u00a0One of the first initiatives involved improving child nutrition in Viet Nam<\/a>. \u00a0 Researchers to\u00a0villages with high levels of child malnutrition found that not all children were malnourished. \u00a0They studied the mothers with healthy children to see what these “positive deviants” were doing differently and then asked those women to teach the other women. \u00a0Malnutrition was reduced.<\/p>\n

Another action involved\u00a0altering cultural perceptions towards female genital mutilation in Egypt <\/a>and other countries. \u00a0 When women and men \u00a0listened to stories of local\u00a0women who had not been ‘cut’, were not promiscuous, and\u00a0were able to marry, attitudes began to change. \u00a0Change was further propelled by women who told their stories of how ‘cutting’ had ruined their lives.<\/p>\n

A major problem in culture of honor societies, such as those in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is the negative attitude of men towards women. \u00a0Misogyny is rampant and fierce. \u00a0How can positive deviance tackle this problem? \u00a0Fortunately, we have an important example of positive deviance in\u00a0Ziauddin Yousafzai<\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n