Skip to main content

A Conceptual Framework to Enhance Community Resilience Using Social Capital

Clinical Social Work Journal volume 45, pages 102–110 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Community resilience has been recognized and promoted as both a vision and a strategy for disaster management. This paper establishes the importance of community resilience in disaster management, describes disaster management phases and the disaster system of care, reviews definitions and dimensions of community resilience and related foundational concepts (social groups, social networks, and social capital), and endorses a conceptual framework for enhancing community resilience through social capital. Resilience, both personal and community resilience, is increased by the social capital that emerges from improved social connections and social networks. Effective disaster management, which requires an informed and engaged public, relies on social networks to connect and support individuals, families, groups, and organizations within the community and to link the community with the disaster system of care. Community disaster teams can identify and engage in activities that promote personal and community resilience, and the team process itself can create social capital that also advances personal and community resilience. The enhancement framework advocated in this paper focuses on the role of social capital in augmenting community resilience derived from people’s interactions in groups, social networks, and teams.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Adger, W. N. (2000). Social and ecological resilience: Are they related? Progress in Human Geography, 24(3), 347–364. doi:10.1191/030913200701540465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W. N., Hughes, T. P., Folke, C., Carpenter, S. R., & Rockström, J. (2005). Social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science, 309(5737), 1036–1039. doi:10.1126/science.1112122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich, D. P. (2012). Building resilience: Social capital in post-disaster recovery. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F., & Ross, H. (2013). Community resilience: Toward an integrated approach. Society and Natural Resources, 26(1), 5–20. doi:10.1080/08941920.2012.736605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, B. W. (2007). Guide to emergency management and related terms, definitions, concepts, acronyms, organizations, programs, guidance, executive orders and legislation. Emmitsburg, MD: Emergency Management Institute, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved from https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/termdef.aspx.

  • Borgatti, S. P., Mehra, A., Brass, D. J., & Labianca, G. (2009). Network analysis in the social sciences. Science, 323(5916), 892–895. doi:10.1126/science.1165821.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra, A., Acosta, J., Stern, S., Uscher-Pines, L., Williams, M. V., Yeung, D., et al. (2011). Building community resilience to disasters. A way forward to enhance national health security. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chenoweth, L., & Stehlik, D. (2001). Building resilient communities: Social work practice and rural Queensland. Australian Social Work, 54(2), 47–54. doi:10.1080/03124070108414323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coffé, H., & Geys, B. (2007). Toward an empirical characterization of bridging and bonding social capital. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 36(1), 121–139. doi:10.1177/0899764006293181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Community and Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI). (2013). Definitions of community resilience: An analysis. A CARRI report. Oak Ridge, TN: Author. Retrieved from http://www.resilientus.org/publications/resilience-publications/.

  • Dyer, W. G, Jr, Dyer, J. H., & Dyer, W. G. (2013). Team building: Proven strategies for improving team performance (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (2011a). A whole community approach to emergency management: Principles, themes, and pathways for action (FDOC Publication 104-008-1). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/23781.

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (2011b). National disaster recovery framework: Strengthening disaster recovery for the nation. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/national-disaster-recovery-framework-0.

  • Hawkins, R. L., & Maurer, K. (2010). Bonding, bridging, and linking: How social capital operated in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. British Journal of Social Work, 40(6), 1777–1793. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, R. L., Vashchenko, M., & Davis, C. (2011). Making a place for youth: Social capital, resilience, and communities. In F. T. Sherman & F. H. Jacobs (Eds.), Juvenile justice: Advancing research, policy, and practice (pp. 245–266). New York, NY: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781118093375.ch12.

  • Holling, C. S. (1996). Engineering resilience versus ecological resilience. In P. C. Schulze (Ed.), Engineering within ecological constraints. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4919&page=31.

  • Institute of Medicine (IOM), Committee on Post-Disaster Recovery of a Community’s Public Health, Medical and Social Services, Board on Health Sciences Policy. (2015). Healthy, resilient, and sustainable communities after disasters: Strategies, opportunities, and planning for recovery. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/reports/2015/post-disaster.aspx.

  • Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoke, D., & Yang, S. (2008). Social network analysis (2nd ed., Series: Quantitative applications in the social sciences). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Chicago, IL: ACTA Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindell, M. K., Prater, C. S., & Perry, R. W. (with Nicholson, W. C.). (2006). Community disaster recovery. In: M. K. Lindell, C. S. Prater, & R. W. Perry (with W. C. Nicholson) (Eds.), Fundamentals of emergency management. Emmitsburg, MD: Emergency Management Institute, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved from https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/fem/chapter%2011%20-%20community%20disaster%20recovery.doc.

  • Lindsay, B. R. (2012). Federal emergency management: A brief introduction (Report R42845). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service (CRS), United States Congress. Retrieved from https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R42845.pdf.

  • Longstaff, P. H., Armstrong, N. J., Perrin, K. A., Parker, W. M., & Hidek, M. (2010). Community resilience: A function of resources and adaptability. White paper. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magis, K. (2010). Community resilience: An indicator of social sustainability. Society and Natural Resources, 23(5), 401–416. doi:10.1080/08941920903305674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, F. H., & Stevens, S. P. (2007). Community resilience and the principles of mass trauma intervention. Psychiatry, 70(4), 320–328. doi:10.1521/psyc.2007.70.4.320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, F. H., Stevens, S. P., Pfefferbaum, B., Wyche, K. F., & Pfefferbaum, R. L. (2008). Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(102), 127–150. doi:10.1007/s10464-007-9156-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pfefferbaum, B., Pfefferbaum, R. L., & Van Horn, R. L. (2015). Community resilience interventions: Participatory, assessmentbased, action-oriented processes. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(2), 238–253. doi:10.1177/0002764214550298.  

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfefferbaum, B. J., Reissman, D. B., Pfefferbaum, R. L., Klomp, R. W., & Gurwitch, R. H. (2007). Building resilience to mass trauma events. In L. S. Doll, S. E. Bonzo, D. A. Sleet, J. A. Mercy, & E. N. Haas (Eds.), Handbook of injury and violence prevention (pp. 347–358). New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-0-387-29457-5_19.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pfefferbaum, R. L. (2014). Advancing community resilience to disasters. Considerations for theory, policy, and practice. In A. Farazmand (Ed.) Crisis and emergency management: Theory and practice (2nd ed., pp. 691–708). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group. doi: 10.1201/b16715-44.

  • Pfefferbaum, R. L., Neas, B. R., Pfefferbaum, B., Norris, F. H., & Van Horn, R. L. (2013). The communities advancing resilience toolkit (CART©): development of a survey instrument to assess community resilience. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, 15(1), 15–30.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pfefferbaum, R. L., Reissman, D. B., Pfefferbaum, B., Wyche, K. F., Norris, F. H., & Klomp, R. W. (2008). Factors in the development of community resilience to disasters. In M. Blumenfield & R. J. Ursano (Eds.), Intervention and resilience after mass trauma (pp. 49–68). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/cbo9780511585975.004.

  • Platow, M. J., Grace, D. M., & Smithson, M. J. (2012). Examining the preconditions for psychological group membership: Perceived social interdependence as the outcome of self-categorization. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(1), 5–13. doi:10.1177/1948550611407081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, J. C. (1982). Towards a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup relations (pp. 15–40). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. DHHS). (2009). National health security strategy of the United States of America. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/authority/nhss/Pages/resource.aspx.

  • U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. DHHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. (2015). National health security strategy and implementation plan, 2015–2018. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/authority/nhss/Pages/resource.aspx.

  • U. S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. DHS). (2010). Quadrennial homeland security review report: A strategic framework for a secure homeland. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/publication/2010-quadrennial-homeland-security-review-qhsr.

  • U. S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. DHS). (2013a). National mitigation framework. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/32209?id=7363.

  • U. S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. DHS). (2013b). National response framework (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/national-response-framework.

  • Ungar, M. (2011). Community resilience for youth and families: Facilitative physical and social capital in contexts of adversity. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(9), 1742–1748. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.04.027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. What is social capital? Washington, DC: The World Bank Group. Retrieved from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/EXTTSOCIALCAPITAL/0,print:Y~isCURL:Y~contentMDK:20185164~menuPK:418217~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:401015,00.html.

Download references

Acknowledgments

Betty Pfefferbaum, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, and Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Richard L. Van Horn, Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Rose L. Pfefferbaum, Department of Economics, Phoenix Community College, Phoenix, Arizona, and Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This work was supported in part by the Terrorism and Disaster Center (TDC), located at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. TDC is a partner in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) which is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. DHHS). All authors disclose no relationships that may be perceived as a conflict of interest. The findings, conclusions, opinions, and contents of this article are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of NCTSN, OUHSC, SAMHSA, TDC, or the U.S. DHHS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901, WP3217, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126-0901, USA

    Betty Pfefferbaum

  2. Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Betty Pfefferbaum, Richard L. Van Horn & Rose L. Pfefferbaum

  3. Department of Economics, Phoenix Community College, Phoenix, USA

    Rose L. Pfefferbaum

Authors
  1. Betty Pfefferbaum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard L. Van Horn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rose L. Pfefferbaum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Betty Pfefferbaum.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pfefferbaum, B., Van Horn, R.L. & Pfefferbaum, R.L. A Conceptual Framework to Enhance Community Resilience Using Social Capital. Clin Soc Work J 45, 102–110 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-015-0556-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-015-0556-z

Keywords

  • Community resilience
  • Disaster management
  • Resilience
  • Social capital
  • Social networks
  • Teams