Arvind Singhal

Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice

Contents: Preface. Part I: History and Theory. A. Singhal, E.M. Rogers, The Status of Entertainment-Education Worldwide. D. Poindexter, A History of Entertainment-Education, 1958-2000. P.T. Poitrow, E. de Fossard, Entertainment-Education as a Public Health Intervention. M. Sabido, The Origins of Entertainment-Education. A. Bandura, Social Cognitive Theory for Personal and Social Change by Enabling Media. W.J. Brown, B.P. Fraser, Celebrity Identification in Entertainment-Education. S. Sood, T. Menard, K. Witte, The Theory Behind Entertainment-Education. Part II: Research and Implementation. S. Usdin, A. Singhal, T. Shongwe, S. Goldstein, A. Shabalala, No Short Cuts in Entertainment-Education: Designing Soul City Step-by-Step. W.N. Ryerson, N. Teffera, Organizing a Comprehensive National Plan for Entertainment-Education in Ethiopia. B.S. Greenberg, C.T. Salmon, D. Patel, V. Beck, G. Cole, Evolution of an E-E Research Agenda. V. Beck, Working With Daytime and Prime-Time Television Shows in the United States to Promote Health. M. Bouman, Entertainment-Education Television Drama in the Netherlands. M.J. Cody, S. Fernandes, H. Wilkin, Entertainment-Education Programs of the BBC and BBC World Service Trust. A.C. La Pastina, D.S. Patel, M. Schiavo, Social Merchandizing in Brazilian Telenovelas. E.M. Rogers, Delivering Entertainment-Education Health Messages Through the Internet to Hard-to-Reach U.S. Audiences in the Southwest. Part III: Entertainment-Education Interventions and Their Outcomes. R.A. Abdulla, Entertainment-Education in the Middle East: Lessons From the Egyptian Oral Rehydration Campaign. Y. Yaser, The Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundations Entertainment-Education Campaign. N. McKee, M. Aghi, R. Carnegie, N. Shahzadi, Cartoons and Comic Books for Changing Social Norms: Meena, the South Asian Girl. A. Singhal, D. Sharma, M.J. Papa, K. Witte, Air Cover and Ground Mobilization: Integrating Entertainment-Education Broadcasts With Community Listening and Service Delivery in India. A. Singhal, Entertainment-Education Through Participatory Theater: Freirean Strategies for Empowering the Oppressed. T. Tufte, Soap Operas and Sense-Making: Mediations and Audience Ethnography. J.D. Storey, T.L. Jacobson, Entertainment-Education and Participation: Applying Habermas to a Population Program in Nepal. Epilogue.

Managing Human Resources for Innovation and Creativity

OVERVIEW:People, not products, are an innovative companys major assets. Most innovative companies implement a suitable mix of what the authors describe to be a four-pronged human resource manageme...

Organizing for social change within concertive control systems: Member identification, empowerment, and the masking of discipline

The Grameen (“rural”) Bank organizes grassroots micro‐enterprises for productive self‐employment and social change among the poorest of the poor in Bangladesh. It provides collateral‐free loans and various social services for the poor, but maintains a 99 percent loan recovery rate. Many of the banks more than two million members, 94 percent of whom are women, attribute their present well‐being to its ameliorative qualities. Using the theory of concertive control, we gained insight into why members and workers identify so strongly with the Grameen, how participation within this organization offers opportunities for empowerment, and how control systems operative within the bank account for its success. This theory also enabled us to examine how member and worker identification with the Grameen influences their evaluation of the disciplinary techniques that are part of the system. By examining the Grameens organizational processes in terms of the theory of concertive control, we identify some of the parado...

The status of entertainment-education worldwide

Contents: Preface. Part I: History and Theory. A. Singhal, E.M. Rogers, The Status of Entertainment-Education Worldwide. D. Poindexter, A History of Entertainment-Education, 1958-2000. P.T. Poitrow, E. de Fossard, Entertainment-Education as a Public Health Intervention. M. Sabido, The Origins of Entertainment-Education. A. Bandura, Social Cognitive Theory for Personal and Social Change by Enabling Media. W.J. Brown, B.P. Fraser, Celebrity Identification in Entertainment-Education. S. Sood, T. Menard, K. Witte, The Theory Behind Entertainment-Education. Part II: Research and Implementation. S. Usdin, A. Singhal, T. Shongwe, S. Goldstein, A. Shabalala, No Short Cuts in Entertainment-Education: Designing Soul City Step-by-Step. W.N. Ryerson, N. Teffera, Organizing a Comprehensive National Plan for Entertainment-Education in Ethiopia. B.S. Greenberg, C.T. Salmon, D. Patel, V. Beck, G. Cole, Evolution of an E-E Research Agenda. V. Beck, Working With Daytime and Prime-Time Television Shows in the United States to Promote Health. M. Bouman, Entertainment-Education Television Drama in the Netherlands. M.J. Cody, S. Fernandes, H. Wilkin, Entertainment-Education Programs of the BBC and BBC World Service Trust. A.C. La Pastina, D.S. Patel, M. Schiavo, Social Merchandizing in Brazilian Telenovelas. E.M. Rogers, Delivering Entertainment-Education Health Messages Through the Internet to Hard-to-Reach U.S. Audiences in the Southwest. Part III: Entertainment-Education Interventions and Their Outcomes. R.A. Abdulla, Entertainment-Education in the Middle East: Lessons From the Egyptian Oral Rehydration Campaign. Y. Yaser, The Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundations Entertainment-Education Campaign. N. McKee, M. Aghi, R. Carnegie, N. Shahzadi, Cartoons and Comic Books for Changing Social Norms: Meena, the South Asian Girl. A. Singhal, D. Sharma, M.J. Papa, K. Witte, Air Cover and Ground Mobilization: Integrating Entertainment-Education Broadcasts With Community Listening and Service Delivery in India. A. Singhal, Entertainment-Education Through Participatory Theater: Freirean Strategies for Empowering the Oppressed. T. Tufte, Soap Operas and Sense-Making: Mediations and Audience Ethnography. J.D. Storey, T.L. Jacobson, Entertainment-Education and Participation: Applying Habermas to a Population Program in Nepal. Epilogue.

Pencils and Photos as Tools of Communicative Research and Praxis Analyzing Minga Perú’s Quest for Social Justice in the Amazon

The present article analyzes the communication for social change activities of Minga Perú, a non-governmental organization in the Peruvian Amazon. Minga Perú broadcasts a popular radio program, Bienvenida Salud (Welcome Health), in the Amazonas, and carries out several community-based empowerment activities for local women. The authors’ data-collection procedures in the Peruvian Amazon included ordinary communicative tools, such as pencils and photographs. The respondents, comprising children and women, used these tools to ‘visually’ record their perceptions of Minga Perú contributions to reproductive health, gender equality and social change in the Peruvian Amazon. The authors argue that pencil sketches and photos represent important tools for communication research and praxis, providing an alternative to ‘textocentrism’ - the privileging of text, writing and the lettered word as a mode of comprehension and expression. However, in recognizing the value of visuals as an alternative mode of expression, the authors also point out that sketches, paintings and photographs are socially and technically constructed. That is, visual frames, by their very nature privilege the photographer’s point of view.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs Targeted to Unique Population Groups in Thailand: Lessons Learned from Applying Concepts of Diffusion of Innovation and Social Marketing

Diffusion of innovations theory and social marketing theory have been criticized for their limited applicability in influencing unique population groups (e.g., female commercial sex workers (CSWs) working in low-class brothels). This study investigated the applicability of these two theoretical frameworks in outreach efforts directed to unique populations at high risk for HIV/AIDS in Bangkok, Thailand. Further, this study examined Thai cultural characteristics that influence communication about HIV/AIDS prevention. The results suggest that certain concepts and strategies drawn from the two frameworks were used more or less by effective outreach programs, providing several policy-relevant lessons. Cultural constraints, such as the lack of visibility of the disease and traditional sexual practices, influenced communication about HIV/AIDS prevention.

Harnessing the potential of entertainment-education telenovelas

The enormous economic, political and social problems of the developing world call for creating effective, equitable, and socially responsible mass media programs that will solve human problems and benefit society. The present article investigates the use of the entertainment-education strategy in mass communication, especially focusing on the potential of telenovelas in addressing problems of national development. We trace the diffusion of the entertainment-education telenovelas from Mexico to other developing countries, and distill the lessons learned to date about the conditions (for instance, the physical and human resources) needed in a country to successfully design and implement the entertainment-education strategy.

Participatory photography as theory, method and praxis: analyzing an entertainment-education project in India1

Abstract In this article I analyse the role of photographs, generated in a participatory manner, in entertainment-education practice and research. The main tenets of participatory communication as well as certain notable experiences in using participatory photography are discussed. Our experience with using participatory photography with listeners of an entertainment-education radio initiative in Bihar, India, where participants combined introspection, reflection, and action, is then analyzed. Through photographs and their accompanying narratives, our participants drew connections between the entertainment-education text they consumed and their lived experiences, articulating certain ideas that were previously silenced, overlooked, or rejected. Often, inspired by the storyline of the entertainment-education text, the narratives called for wider community discussion, mobilization, and action. We conclude our article by discussing the potential and caveats associated with using this visual approach in human communication research.

Empowerment and Communication: Lessons Learned From Organizing for Social Change

Empowerment is the process through which individuals perceive that they control situations. Such perceived agency is a fundamental behavior change, which often leads to many other behavior changes. The present chapter synthesizes research on empowerment and communication in the developing nations of Latin American, Africa, and Asia. Several investigations into the empowerment of underdogs in society are examined, including (a) women dairy farmers in India, (b) women members of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, (c) community-based radio listening groups in the villages of Lutsaan and Abirpur in India, and (d) people living with AIDS in Thailand. Essentially, the process of empowerment occurs in small groups at the local level when individuals organize for social change in order to accomplish goals that they cannot achieve as separate individuals. By exploring the relationship between individual and collective empowerment, we seek to draw a series of lessons learned about the empowerment process and apply them more generally to any type of system in any nation.

Ethical Dilemmas of Prosocial Television.

The present article examines the ethical dilemmas associated with the use of entertainment television for prosocial development. During the 1980s, the production of entertainment television programs for consumption worldwide was unprecedented. While entertainment television is generally created to attract large audiences and sell commercial products, many countries are producing entertainment‐educational programs that are intended to diffuse prosocial messages. U.S. television producers are increasingly pressured by various lobby groups to address social issues on prime‐time television. The promotion of prosocial beliefs and behaviors through television raises important ethical dilemmas, four of which are discussed here: (1) the ethics of distinguishing prosocial television content from antisocial television content, (2) the ethics of depicting socio‐cultural equality through television programs, (3) the ethics of limiting the unintended effects of television programs, and (4) the ethics of using televisi...