Using Distribution Effects

A Distribution Effect occurs when people perceive that an organization has a bias in favor for or against a specific group through the way they distribute resources.

The criteria interveners use to select recipients of assistance or to hire their staff or identify their partners often match with local identity groups. If the choices about who to help, who to hire or with whom to partner favor one group over others, and thus provide important resources for survival to this group, the assistance becomes contested and can be a serious source of tension and conflict.

Using Distribution Effects

You need to know what the groups are. You need to examine your criteria for potential bias.

When you understand which groups exist and their relationships with one another, then you can look for Connectors between them. What mutual interests or interdependencies do people have? Where are people already working together? Developing programs around existing Connectors can be a powerful way to use positive Distribution Effects to mitigate conflict.

At the same time, understanding and paying attention to the Dividers that exist allows you to see when you are inadvertently increasing them. It is even possible to anticipate which Dividers are likely the most dangerous and you can build that understanding into your efforts to avoid negative Distribution Effects.

It is not always possible to get the Distribution Effects right from the beginning of a program. However, through paying attention to the Dividers and Connectors, and by continuing to pay attention to the social dynamics, you will be able to shift your programs before they cause lasting damage. This requires an open and creative mind, something that Do No Harm encourages and facilitates.

Each of the illustrations above involves direct benefits to one group over others in terms of the physical resources offered and each demonstrates the importance of the messages sent by the choices made in terms of distribution. The Actions, who gains benefits, convey messages of favoritism and exclusion; or of respect and fairness. The choices made about how to provide aid and to whom—the Behaviors—also convey both types of messages.

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