Social cohesion, mutual efficacy, and informal social control:Enhancing the conceptualization of collective efficacy

Michael C. Gearhart and Mark L. Joseph

Community Development, 2019, vol. 50, issue 1, 3-15

Abstract: Collective efficacy has been one of the most valuable and influential concepts in neighborhood research of the past 20 years. However, interventions designed to increase collective efficacy report mixed findings, suggesting that there may be a gap between collective efficacy theory and practice. We assert that the conceptualization of collective efficacy limits its ability to guide and evaluate community-based practice. This article contributes to the literature by critiquing collective efficacy with the intention of increasing its utility to inform community-based practice, conceptualizing mutual efficacy as a construct that is unique from social cohesion and informal social control, and developing a model of collective efficacy that includes mutual efficacy.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2018.1545793

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