Proposed SNA - Basketball and Friendship in Divided Communities

Anna Barrett

SNA Proposal

(will not be taking second half of course)

Overview

This summer, I interned for an organization called PeacePlayers International (PPI), a non-profit whose mission is “to unite, educate and inspire young people in divided communities through basketball.”  With sites in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Israel, they tackle deep-seated divisions armed with the belief that “children who play together can learn to live together.”  While each program adapts to its location, they all contain three main elements: frequent, long-term integration, local leadership development, and a peace and leadership curricula.

Youth start by playing basketball only with members of their own communities, then gradually have more frequent interactions with youth from the other groups.  Some PPI players go on to participate in their leadership programs, and, eventually, to become PPI coaches themselves. 

The Study

Like many non-profits, PPI is often faced with the dual challenges of consistently re-designing their programs for more impact and then of showing this impact in a sphere where numbers do not show the full picture.  Changing attitudes, promoting meaningful friendships, and creating leaders are long-term and intangible goals, but SNA could provide a powerful way of looking at the PPI programs and outcomes.  I propose a social network analysis to answer three main questions:

a)      Are inter-group friendships being formed during PPI programs?

b)      Are these friendships correlated to the change of attitudes and perceptions of the “other”?

c)       Who are the connectors and leaders within the programs who should be considered for the leadership development and possible PPI employment?

Data

The data would be collected through a series of surveys as youth travel through the PPI curriculum.  The base level would be showing the ties that are formed at each stage of the program.  If this was done in a single year, measuring participants of different stages could substitute for following the same youth through their entire program participation.  The kids would name both their three best friends, but also identify how many friends they had from the other group, showing both strong and weak ties.  

The attribute data would be crucial toward seeing how the program and these ties affect certain perceptions.  As a base, it would be useful to know if kids had any friends from the other group.  In some countries, the divided groups rarely interact.  Other potential attributes to be measured include: age, ethnicity (or religion), perceptions of the other group, number of years in the PPI program, school, neighborhood, basketball skill level, and gender.

It should be possible to survey the participants at set intervals throughout the course of the programs.  In addition, it would be helpful to also survey participants a year after they have left the program, although this could be logistically difficult.

Conclusion

This analysis could explore questions such as: Who are the strongest connectors amongst the groups? Who is making the most friendships?  How long does it take for these friendships to form, or in other words, how much is enough?  Do those who form more friendships change their attitudes about the other groups?  Do participants change their attitudes about their teammates but not the other group as a whole?  Is one site performing much better or lagging behind the others in these measures?

While the SNA would not be able to answer these questions conclusively, it could be a powerful tool to explore patterns amongst PPI participants and compare results across the different PPI sites.  In this way, PPI can continue to refine their methodology and present their impact more powerfully to board members and potential donors.