WALKING THE CROSSWALK IN BRASÍLIA (DF/ BRAZIL): A CULTURAL INTERVENTION EXAMPLE

Abstract

The study of social phenomena has increasingly awakened the interest and concern of Behavior Analysts. Since 1997, practically all drivers living in Brasília (DF/ Brazil) respect pedestrian crosswalks. This changing of cultural practice happened as a result of a local campaign involving important social agencies, whose representatives came together in a Permanent Forum for Peace on Traffic organized by the University of Brasilia (UnB). The present study described the agency’s actions that promoted a cultural intervention and resulted in the new cultural practice of yielding to pedestrians. Through the analysis of documents and interviews this study sought to rebuild the history of this campaign, with the purpose of identifying, analyzing and interpreting the interlocking behavioral contingencies responsible for such cultural intervention. This social phenomenon was discussed in relation to the concepts of macrocontingencies and metacontingencies.Key words: cultural practice, crosswalks, cultural interventions, macrocontingencies, metacontingencies.