COUV ACTES - Psychologie communautaire

Community Psychology: Common Values, Diverse PracticesThe role of collective efficacy in adjustment and problembehavior among youth incommunity-based afterschoolprograms: developmental models of promotion and preventionby Emilie P. Smith 1 , Chakema Carmack 1 , Katharine Hynes 1 ,Daniel Perkins 1 & Wayne Osgood 1Children’s sense of agency, belonging, empowerment, and positive peer influence comprise potentially importantaspects of not only positive youth development but also of human development (Bandura, 1982; Eccles &Gootman, 2002; Larson, 2000; Rappaport, 1981; Zimmerman, 1995). This study evaluates the reliability andvalidity of such a measure with children in elementary afterschool programs. The newly adapted collectiveefficacy scale was found to be highly reliable (alpha=.844 with 20 items and .859 with 16 final items). Using pathanalyses across 2 waves of data, children’s collective efficacy was found to be related to better adjustment (lessanxiety and aggressive behavior) and reduced smoking initiation, though the modeled varied slightly by gender.Future research could explore ways to promote collective efficacy, positive youth development, and prevention ofproblem behavior in community-based afterschool programs.Background and IntroductionChildren’s sense of belonging, engagement, and positive peer engagement are thought to be influential aspectsof positive youth development (Eccles & Gootman, 2002; Larson, 2000; Smith, 2007; Vandell & Shumow, 1999;Villaruel, Perkins, Borden, & Keith, 2003). The degree to which human beings in general, possess sources ofsocial support, feel a sense of community, and exert informal social control within their community are conceptsembodied across the multiple disciplines of community psychology, criminology, human development, sociologyand psychology (Chavis & Wandersman, 1990; Furstenberg, 1993; Rappaport, 1981; Sarason, 1976;Zimmerman, 1995).Collective efficacy, a more recent concept that has emerged in the past decade or so, is defined as the degree towhich a group of individuals feel close to each other, and confident in the willingness and ability of the group toact on behalf of its members. Research by Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls (1999) has demonstrated thatcollective efficacy in adults is an important moderator of crime and violence in poor, at-risk neighborhoods(Sampson et al., 1999). Research has also investigated the relationship of adult collective efficacy to parentingprocesses. In a longitudinal study of rural African American parents, increases in CE were related to moreauthoritative parenting, which includes clear parental guidelines coupled with warmth and support, as well as toless peer deviance and delinquency among the youth (Simons, Simons, Burt, Brody, & Cutrona, 2005). Goddard1The Pennsylvania State University270