Cultures, Situations, and Behaviors: Theories and Models That Explain Why Best-Laid Plans Go Awry

Despite being well intentioned and well planned, attempts to intervene in other cultures can yield unanticipated results. More speciˆcally, initiatives whose objectives are to help targeted populations can result in behaviors other than those expected, and consequences different from those sought. This chapter proposes explanations for this phenomenon and suggests means for better anticipating results and, therefore, enabling the desired results.