Community, Sense of Community, and Networks

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine concepts from community theory and social network analysis that can inform and enrich sense of community. Specifically, we explore a conceptualization of community, drawn from outside psychology, which can anchor sense of community in community theory. Next, concepts from social network analysis are examined as conceptual tools for bridging gaps and spanning boundaries. We close with an illustration of how relationships between community systems and boundary spanning were used, in one community in the US, to address an unjust configuration of institutional relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)