The Bolsa Família Program and Cultural Design: Behavioral Interpretations of Cultural Interventions

Abstract

Cultural design is a behavior analysis–based cultural intervention that aims for cultural practices selection by way of short-term improvements in living conditions and that results in long-term culture survival. This article uses the cultural design concept to discuss the Bolsa Familia Program’s potential and consequences. To this end, the text of laws, guidelines of the Ministry of Social Development and the Fight Against Hunger (MDS), and commentary on the creation and implementation of the program were examined. Then, the Bolsa Familia Program was analyzed using the following analytical categories of cultural design: (a) prior environmental changes, (b) cultural practices, (c) consequences that maintain these cultural practices in the short term, and (d) long-term results of these cultural practices. The Bolsa Familia Program facilitates selecting for the cultural practices targeted by the intervention through environmental changes that have immediate effects and long-term results favorable to beneficiaries. Thus, even with shortcomings in its operation, the Bolsa Familia Program meets the requirements to be considered a cultural design strategy.