Part III: A systematic change perspective light, in particular where dramatic events produced a heightened awareness of an existing problem. In Bulgaria, a crisis involving refugees from Syria prompted a reorientation of the priorities of the NPM, dealing with these aspects in a thematic report. In Austria, a media scandal regarding a person neglected in a prison created the conditions for the Austrian NPM putting its proposals regarding the treatment of persons detained under measures for mentally ill persons on the agenda. Another example comes from Sweden, where the NPM is currently looking into how CPT’s announcement of a visit in 2015 can be used to raise its profile and in that way ensure that its proposals are considered. On the other hand, most NPMs stated that they would be rather weary of using political events for agenda-setting purposes. œœ Example 2: Knowledge about communication - Messaging and Framing Research, challenging the conventional school of thought that suggested people make rational decisions by weighing the costs and benefits of different options, has shown individuals develop different preferences according to the way that options are presented or framed.288 In particular, options presented in a positive light lead to different decisions in dilemma situations from the ones presented in a negative light. But framing of the issue is not the only relevant factor for taking decisions. The values, norms and habits of the decision maker, are also of importance. The basic insights of the relevance of framing might be used by NPMs in different ways: • NPMs should think carefully about how they develop the messages geared towards the target audience, including in the dialogue with the authorities, but also towards the general public. In particular, they can reframe problems and policy proposals in a way that might enhance acceptability. • NPMs might develop relevant knowledge and skills within their structure or cooperate with other stakeholders in order to make sure this knowledge can be used. • Messaging and framing would obviously be part of a broader strategy of follow-up. In the consultation process, only the Czech NPM said it uses these insights in a deliberate way by getting the advice of an external argumentation and negotiation specialist for writing reports and recommendations. Several other examples surfaced which showed a more intuitive understanding of the relevance of messaging and framing. For example, several NPMs (e.g. the Estonian NPM) highlighted that in their dialogue with staff at places of detention they systematically highlight the positive role that the NPM´s work could bring to them, effectively introducing a different frame for viewing the NPM. Another example, not from the NPM world, but still from the human rights monitoring field, was the initiative of the former Austrian Human Rights Advisory Board (predecessor to the HRAC to the NPM), which successfully induced the Austrian Ministry of Interior to (re)conceive police work more in terms of human rights protection: While police obviously will interfere with human rights, its main purpose is to undertake action in order to protect human rights. This led to an organisational development project in the Austrian police, which is based on a comprehensive understanding of human rights.289 A Tversky and D Kahneman, ‘The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice’ (1981) 211 (4481) Science, New Series, 453; Stachowiak (2013) 16. 289 On the background and content see Austria, Federal Ministry of Interior, Polizei als Menschenrechtsorganisation (2009). 288 - 98 -