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Cited by 164Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting IssuesGenital Health and DiseaseGender, Labor, and Family Dynamics

Dynamics of change in the practice of female genital cutting in Senegambia: testing predictions of social convention theory

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Shell-Duncan, Bettina, Wander, Katherine, Hernlund, Ylva, Moreau, Amadou·2011·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.07.022PMC PMC3962676
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Abstract

Recent reviews of intervention efforts aimed at ending female genital cutting (FGC) have concluded that progress to date has been slow, and call for more efficient programs informed by theories on behavior change. Social convention theory, first proposed by Mackie (1996), posits that in the context of extreme resource inequality, FGC emerged as a means of securing a better marriage by signaling fidelity, and subsequently spread to become a prerequisite for marriage for all women. Change is predicted to result from coordinated abandonment in intermarrying groups so as to preserve a marriage market for uncircumcised girls. While this theory fits well with many general observations of FGC, there have been few attempts to systematically test the theory. We use data from a three year mixed-method study of behavior change that began in 2004 in Senegal and The Gambia to explicitly test predictions generated by social convention theory. Analyses of 300 in-depth interviews, 28 focus group discussions, and survey data from 1220 women show that FGC is most often only indirectly related to marriageability via concerns over preserving virginity. Instead we find strong evidence for an alternative convention, namely a peer convention. We propose that being circumcised serves as a signal to other circumcised women that a girl or woman has been trained to respect the authority of her circumcised elders and is worthy of inclusion in their social network. In this manner, FGC facilitates the accumulation of social capital by younger women and of power and prestige by elder women. Based on this new evidence and reinterpretation of social convention theory, we suggest that interventions aimed at eliminating FGC should target women's social networks, which are intergenerational, and include both men and women. Our findings support Mackie's assertion that expectations regarding FGC are interdependent; change must therefore be coordinated among interconnected members of social networks.

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  1. WHO 1999 Female genital mutilation: Programmes to date: What works and what doesn’t? A review Geneva World Health Organization

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Authors
Shell-Duncan, B., Wander, K., Hernlund, Y., & Moreau, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Washington (US)
  • Global Research and Advocacy Group (SN)
ORCID
Wander, Katherine
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2011-10
Volume
73
Issue
8
Pages
1275-1283
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.07.022
PMC
PMC3962676
OpenAlex
W2101630082
Cited by
164
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 2
FWCI
5.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD042828)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Genital Health and Disease
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
Keywords
female genital mutilation, behavior change, marriageability, virginity, social capital, Senegal, Gambia
MeSH terms
Adult, Culture, Data Collection, Female, Gambia, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Marriage, Senegal, Social Change, Social Support, Focus Groups, Circumcision, Female

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