Underlying Dimensions of Social Cohesion in a Rural Community Affected by Wartime Violence in Colombia

Ignacio Ramos-Vidal, Ilse Villamil and Alicia Uribe
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Ignacio Ramos-Vidal: Departamento de Psicología Social, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Sevilla, Calle Ramón y Cajal s/n, 41018 Sevilla, Spain
Ilse Villamil: Grupo de Investigación CAVIDA, Escuela de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, calle 63#6-58, Monteria 230017, Colombia
Alicia Uribe: Grupo de Investigación CAVIDA, Escuela de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, calle 63#6-58, Monteria 230017, Colombia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: War deteriorates the quality of life of the population and profoundly alters social dynamics. We discuss a rural community in northern Colombia whose population was the victim of a massacre and examine the main components that model social cohesion: (a) positive attitudes towards the community, (b) prosocial behaviours and (c) interpersonal relationships. This investigation is a cross-sectional empirical study that includes an analysis of social support networks. The research involved 106 residents, (81.1%, women), with an average age of 42.5 years (standard deviation (SD) = 16.4), who have lived in the community an average 28.8 years (SD = 18.75). Cluster analysis shows that there are two types of personal networks based on homophily and the duration of the ego-alter relationship. The networks that provide the most types of social support shows a moderate level of homophily according to the type of relationship and place of origin and in which the duration of the ego-alter relationship is shorter, compared to networks characterized by high homophily and in which the duration of the ego-alter relationship is longer ( χ 2 = 5.609, p < 0.018). Homophily based on place of residence actively affects the sense of community and social cohesion. Moreover, the sense of community is the variable that most affects social cohesion (β = 0.650; p < 0.001) and is, in turn, determined by prosocial behaviour (β = 0.267; p < 0.006). However, prosocial behaviours do not significantly affect interpersonal relationships or community cohesion. The results are discussed to promote social development strategies aimed at building individual, organizational and community capacity to foster psychosocial well-being in post-war contexts.

Keywords: social cohesion; war; homophily; community participation; personal networks; community leadership; sense of community (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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