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Policing in an Age of Reform pp 61–83Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Community Dynamics, Collective Efficacy, and Police Reform

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Part of the Palgrave's Critical Policing Studies book series (PCPS )

Abstract

In this chapter we illustrate how transformational police reform—i.e. changing the game—is possible. We draw on Bandura’s (2001) social cognitive theory to formulate the concepts of neighbourhood dynamics and neighbourhood atmosphere. These are both latent dimensions of neighbourhoods and communities that have clear and profound implications for neighbourhood safety. This work extends the concept of neighbourhood collective efficacy by explicating the multifaceted nature of “low collective efficacy”. We do this by focusing on the psychodynamic processes that occur in small neighbourhood and community places and show how they related to collective efficacy. In turn, we show why psychodynamic processes are important for neighbourhood safety and police reform.

Keywords

  • Psychodynamic processes
  • Community dynamics
  • Neighbourhood dynamics
  • Collective efficacy
  • Social cognitive theory
  • Police reform

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Fig. 5.1
Fig. 5.2

Notes

  1. 1.

    The JSTOR search was conducted by the first author on March 16, 2018, and it included only the 148 sociology journals indexed in the database. A search for terms ‘collective efficacy’ and ‘crime’ revealed a sixfold increase in published research in sociology journals (from 243 to 1499) in the 20-year period 1999–2018 compared with the period 1969–1988.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    James J. Nolan

  2. Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Joshua C. Hinkle

Authors
  1. James J. Nolan
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  2. Joshua C. Hinkle
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Correspondence to James J. Nolan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Prof. James J. Nolan

  2. Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivière, Québec, QC, Canada

    Prof. Frank Crispino

  3. School of Justice Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Dr. Timothy Parsons

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Nolan, J.J., Hinkle, J.C. (2021). Community Dynamics, Collective Efficacy, and Police Reform. In: Nolan, J.J., Crispino, F., Parsons, T. (eds) Policing in an Age of Reform. Palgrave's Critical Policing Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56765-1_5

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