AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS

174 MELANIE NEWELL
stood, analyzed, and taken into account in SRH programs and their interventions.
The social ecology model developed by psychologist Urie
Bronfennbrenner (1979) is an important analysis tool that can be used to
help develop interventions. The model illustrates the inter-relationship
between social structure, context and agency, and how this relationship
influences behavior and decision-making. According to the model, individuals
make decisions and form behaviors firstly within the context of
their home life (family, peers, school, work, culture) which lies within the
context of a community (job market, media, culture, interventions),
which in turn lies within the wider context of a national and international
system of laws, policies, culture, and institutions (Keysers 2009b). SRH
attitudes and behaviors need to be analyzed using a tool such as the social
ecology model in order that interventions are designed to reflect the
reality of a complex process of decision-making and behavioral formation.
An ineffective intervention could be one based on statistics that show
a low percentage of male condom use. The intervention promotes female
contraception and also increases male and female access to condoms,
making sure there are adequate resources available. The first problem
with this intervention is that it does not take into account what is
behind the statistics. The reasons why men are not wearing condoms are
not explored, and it is quite possible that they know about condoms, that
they already have access to condoms, but that there are other reasons
condoms are not being used. Introducing women to contraception does
not solve the gendered power relations shaped by a woman’s culture that
might limit her from using contraception. Men must be included in research
in order that their reasons for not using condoms, for example,
are understood and addressed (AGI 2003: 7, Greene 2000: 54). When
research that includes men is done in this fashion, it has been found that
masculine identities and cultural pressures in gender constructs lie at the
heart of the choice to use or not to use a condom, not only availability
(Adriao et. al. 2002: 204). The SRH community has learned to treat
women in their own right, not only as child bearers or wives, however
the same step needs to be taken with men. Including men in research
and designing interventions purposefully to educate and encourage maleinvolvement
in SRH is essential to building a strong foundation for family
life and well-being. Studies that identify the obstacles that prevent
men from being receptive to SRH services and education are few, yet