SRGs bring women together in a group. They save, and they relate, naturally. It isn’t a relationship predicated on helping. It is women coming together. A lot of their talk is about the weather and their kids. Why would this make a difference?
The evidence emerging from Ratio’s other learning partners and Beca Sandu’s primary research goes something like this: Ordinary, day to day relating opens up our emotions, it makes us feel better about ourselves. That leads to a shift in our cognition, we begin to open our minds to new opportunities. (Just because we think differently doesn’t mean we behave differently, but an idea is planted. We ask ourselves could I live my life differently? Could I drink less? Could I read more?) Relationships also re-active agency, they leave people reflecting on the things they can do for themselves to change their destiny.
It is important to stress that it is the relationship doing the work here, ordinary day-to-day interactions, not one person asking the other to think differently or take control. A good relationship that never mentions cognitive change or agency will produce cognitive change and recovery of agency. Good relationships help us look for and form other relationships that mirror their positive quality.