When we hear the term "peer pressure," we usually think of something negative, such as teens being urged by their friends to use drugs or get drunk even when they don't want to. In this sobering work, Tina Rosenberg, the first freelance journalist to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, has found in places around the world that peer pressure can be a good thing. The author, who won a Pulitzer Prize for writing on courage and human suffering, calls this capacity of a peer group to change the behavior of others "the social cure." It affects young and old alike and crosses class and economic lines.
Rosenberg contends that in our times we can accept as true that our need for a connection with others can animate us to do good things in the world. Here are some examples of the social cure:
• Young men in South Africa using condoms
• Teenagers in America rejecting cigarettes because it's not cool
• Worshippers at a suburban megachurch animated to create community
• Black and Hispanic students inspired to do well in college math
Rosenberg also includes pieces on the microfinance movement, gang members going straight, and villagers in India rallying around the cause of stopping infant mortality. Although the author makes a good case for positive peer pressure, she is honest enough to admit that it can also have unsavory consequences such as copycat suicides and groups recruiting terrorists. Hopefully this book will encourage more attention to and experimentation with social cure.
