COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse Practicesaverage score of perceived satisfaction with two types of support--emotional and tangible support (both measuredon a 4-point scale).Definitions of social capital or community cohesion vary; however, it is generally understood as a multidimensionalconstruct, involving such dimensions as trust, volunteerism, participation, togetherness,neighborhood connections, and norms of reciprocity (Coleman, 1990; Gittell, Ortega-Bustamante, & Steffy, 2000;Lochner, Kawachi, & Kennedy, 1999; Narayan. 2001; Putnam, 1993). The following questions from the WHOCore Questionnaire were used to assess various aspects of social capital:• Do neighbours generally tend to know each other well?• If there were a street fight would people generally do something to stop it• If someone decided to undertake a community project would most people be willing to contribute time,labour or money?• In this neighbourhood, do most people generally trust one another in matters of lending and borrowingthings?• If someone in your family suddenly fell ill or had an accident, would your neighbours offer to help?Experiences of Intimate Partners’ Violence. The respondents were asked whether they had ever experiencedeach of six forms of physical violence and three forms of sexual violence at the hands of their current or formerintimate partners. We trichotomized the respondents into the following groups: those who had experienced IPV inthe previous 12 months (IPV past-year); those who had experienced IPV prior to the last year (IPV 1+ year ago);and those who had not experienced IPV (No IPV).Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA). Each respondent was asked whether she had experienced unwanted sexualtouching and/or was forced to perform sexual acts against her will before age 15. We created two variables:CSA by perpetrators known to the respondent and CSA by stranger.Adulthood Physical and Sexual Violence by Non-Intimates. Respondents were asked whether they had beenphysically abused by individuals other than intimate partners since age 15 and whether they had been forced toengage in sex or sexual acts against their will by individuals other than intimate partners since age 15.Physical and Emotional Distress Symptoms. The Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ) (WHO, 1994) was used toassess physical and emotional distress symptoms that the respondents experienced during the previous month.The SRQ was developed by the World Health Organization as a screening instrument for psychiatric disturbancesand has been found to have good reliability and validity with diverse populations. Respondents were askedwhether they had experienced each of the 20 listed symptoms during the past month, such as, headaches, poorappetite, sleep disturbances, nervousness, poor digestion, and crying more than usual.224