Community mobilisation to support positive parenting

The document details a project in Touwsranten, South Africa, that integrated household-level parenting programmes with community-led social activation. This synergistic approach led to a decrease in corporal punishment, reduced child behavioural problems, and improved parent mental health. The project utilised action research and a steering committee to develop contextually relevant activities, such as a parenting manifesto and community events, to foster a collective commitment to non-violent parenting.

• The combination of household-level parenting programmes and a social activation process resulted in warmer parenting behaviours, a reduction in corporal punishment, and improved outcomes for children in the Touwsranten community.
• Child behavioural problems decreased significantly between the baseline and the third wave of the survey, with a 33% reduction for younger children and a 21% reduction for older children.
• The intervention led to a decline in reported parenting stress and symptoms of parent mental health, as well as a slight decrease in intimate partner violence.
• Participatory action research allowed community members to establish shared values and aspirations, which were then translated into a logo, songs, a manifesto, and a slogan to support positive parenting.
• Community-led activities, such as park repairs, clean-ups, and family events, strengthened social bonds and created opportunities for parents and children to bond in ways that had not previously existed.
• The project's momentum was sustained through a partnership between community members and the Seven Passes Initiative (SPI), a local NGO providing administrative assistance and dialogue-reflection-action processes.

APA

Parker, W., Gould, C., Ward, C., Kleyn, L., Dippenaar, W., Kennedy, S., Ruiters, J., & Buys, N. (2020). Community mobilisation to support positive parenting. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief148.pdf

Chicago

Parker, Warren, Chandré Gould, Catherine Ward, Lisa Kleyn, Wilmi Dippenaar, Sheridan Kennedy, John Ruiters, and Naizel Buys. Community mobilisation to support positive parenting. Institute for Security Studies, 2020. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief148.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{parker2020community, author = {Parker, Warren and Gould, Chandré and Ward, Catherine and Kleyn, Lisa and Dippenaar, Wilmi and Kennedy, Sheridan and Ruiters, John and Buys, Naizel}, title = {{Community mobilisation to support positive parenting}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2020}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief148.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }