Title

Unpacking Collective Efficacy: The Relationship Between Social Cohesion And Informal Social Control

Keywords

collective efficacy; informal social control; police; social cohesion; social disorganization; systemic model

Abstract

The investigation of social mechanisms within social disorganization theory has led to the concept of collective efficacy. Collective efficacy has typically been measured as a composite of social cohesion and informal control; however, more work remains to be done with respect to the measurement of informal control and the modeling of the relationship between cohesion and control. The present study addresses this issue by using multiple operationalizations of informal social control. Results suggest that respondents rely upon their ability to call the police as a method, by which they exercise informal control over their area of residence. Moreover, the cohesion and control scales are distinct from one another, which adds to the literature showing that they are better treated as separate scales. In regression models, cohesion emerges as largely unrelated to individuals' propensity to intervene in neighborhood problems, but enhances their perceptions of their neighbors' likelihood of intervention. Future research should continue investigating different types of informal control and each one's relationship with cohesion. Policy recommendations include the need for police to be prepared to respond to a variety of neighborhood problems, many of which are not directly crime related but, nonetheless, have important implications for informal crime-control efforts. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Publication Title

Criminal Justice Studies

Volume

27

Issue

2

Number of Pages

210-225

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.2014.885903

Socpus ID

84893684397 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84893684397

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