How can you identify the root causes of social issues? This is a crucial question for any non-profit manager who wants to make a lasting impact on their community. In this article, you will learn some practical tools and methods to analyze the underlying factors that contribute to the problems you are trying to solve.
Root causes are the fundamental reasons why a social issue exists and persists. They are often hidden, complex, and interrelated, and they can be influenced by multiple factors such as policies, norms, beliefs, behaviors, systems, and structures. Identifying root causes can help you understand the context and scope of the issue, design more effective interventions, and measure your progress and impact.
Understanding the underlying causes of social issues affecting youth demands a comprehensive approach that takes into account the interconnected factors shaping their lives. Engaging directly with youth through inclusive dialogue and participatory methods is pivotal. By actively listening to their experiences, concerns, and aspirations, we gain valuable insights into the intricate dynamics impacting their daily lives. Concurrently conducting thorough research is vital to understanding systemic issues such as disparities in education, health, economic opportunities, and social services. Identifying the root causes entails acknowledging structural inequalities, discrimination, and inadequate support systems that disproportionately affect them
Root causes tend to be the hidden reasons problems manifest themselves. They can be a result of government, social, economic, family, education, or individuals. All, a combination of some, or just one factor, can create an environment for root causes to birth problems. Complexity can vary and be difficult to identify in some cases, creating a cascade effect appearing as multiple, possibly unrelated, symptoms that are easier to address one by one. As a nonprofit, the focus is on providing services or fixing the symptoms that align with the mission, such as helping families of children with cancer. The root cause may vary from child to child, and be outside the purview of helping families during this difficult time.
The 5 Whys method is a simple and popular technique to identify root causes. It involves repeatedly asking "why" until you reach the core cause of the problem. For instance, if the issue is low literacy rates among children, you can ask why they don't have access to quality education, why their schools are underfunded and overcrowded, why the government does not allocate enough resources and attention to education, and why it prioritizes other sectors and interests over education. The last answer is the root cause of the problem, which reveals the need for advocacy, policy change, and civic engagement to address the issue.
From childhood you've been familiar with the 5 Whys technique - asking "Why?" It is not the number of times “why” is asked, but the journey of discovery it takes you on. In some cases, it will be just one or two times, and in others well beyond five times. The goal is to identify the root cause, and then come up with a solution to stop the initial cause. When the initial stage is fixed, it will create a cascade effect and resolve the problem. If it doesn’t, then start asking “Why?” again. There could be multiple causes, the root cause was incorrectly identified, or the root cause wasn’t fixed, try again. Rekindle your curiosity when looking to understand the cause and effect of root problems. In this case, it is OK to think like a child.
Another useful technique to identify root causes is the Problem Tree analysis. It involves mapping out the causes and effects of a problem in a visual way, using a tree as a metaphor. The problem is the trunk of the tree, the causes are the roots, and the effects are the branches. For example, if your issue is homelessness, you can draw a problem tree like this:
Effects (branches)
/ | / | / | Poor health Crime Social exclusion
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Problem (trunk) |
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Causes (roots) |
/ | \ |
/ | \ |
/ | \ |
Lack of Low Unemployment
housing income
The problem tree helps you to see the connections and relationships between the different aspects of the problem, and to identify the root causes that need to be addressed.
A third technique to identify root causes is the Fishbone diagram, also known as the Ishikawa diagram or the Cause and Effect diagram. It involves drawing a fish-like structure, where the problem is the head of the fish, and the causes are the bones. The causes can be grouped into categories, such as people, processes, materials, equipment, environment, and policies. For example, if your issue is low voter turnout, you can draw a fishbone diagram like this:
Problem (head)
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Causes (bones)
/ / / / / / / / / People Processes Materials Equipment
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Lack of Complex Insufficient Faulty
awareness registration ballots machines
and procedures and and
interest information scanners
The fishbone diagram helps you to identify the various factors that contribute to the problem, and to categorize them according to their nature and relevance.
After you have used one or more of these techniques to identify the root causes of your social issue, you need to validate your analysis. This means confirming whether your assumptions and conclusions are accurate, reliable, and supported by evidence. To do this, review relevant data and research on the issue and its causes, consult with experts, stakeholders, and beneficiaries who have knowledge and experience on the issue and its causes, test your hypotheses and solutions with experiments and pilots, and seek feedback from your team, partners, and donors. Taking these steps to validate your root cause analysis can help you to refine your understanding of the issue, avoid errors and biases, and increase your credibility and confidence.
Finally, you need to use your root cause analysis for action. This means turning your insights and findings into practical and strategic actions that can address the root causes of the issue and create lasting, positive change. To do this, you should develop a theory of change that explains how your actions will lead to desired outcomes and impact, as well as design a logic model that outlines the inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact of your intervention. Additionally, setting SMART objectives and indicators can track your progress and performance, while creating a work plan to define roles, responsibilities, tasks, timelines, and resources of your intervention is also essential. Implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and adapting your intervention based on results and learning can help you to plan, execute, and improve your intervention while demonstrating value and effectiveness.
The root cause of social evils is lack of positive parenting. Giving thrust on school knowledge and deviation from the religious teachings. The thrust on earning by all family members and loosing social fabric because of nuclear families with a single child. Leaving children alone for earning we gain money only and loose our children career. Mostly we are opposite to natural roles and prefer to be economically sound and leave interdependence in society. Thus against money we want to purchase everything that leads our new generation to social evils