Grace Pretty

A review of the sense of community index: Current uses, factor structure, reliability, and further development

The short form of the Sense of Community Index (SCI) (Chavis, Hogge, McMillan, & Wandersman, 1986) was assessed in terms of the four dimensions of psychological sense of community (PSC) proposed by McMillan and Chavis (1986). Four sets of data were used. They measured PSC in the neighborhood for adults and adolescents, and workplace PSC for adults, using true/false and three-point response formats. Reliabilities for the total SCI scores ranged from .64 to .69. Most subscale reliabilities were below acceptable levels, ranging from a low of .16 to a high of .72. Factor analyses showed some support for the existence of the four dimensions of the McMillan and Chavis PSC model in the SCI. However, they were not consistent across data sets. Further work to develop the SCI as a measure representative of the PSC model is outlined, with implications for adult and adolescent populations.

Sense of community: Advances in measurement and application

This article summarizes theoretical and methodological advances in the study and application of a SOC, and serves as the introduction to a special issue devoted to this subject. Four themes emerged from the review. The first was that there continues to be a search for additional measures, despite the popularity of the SOC Index (SCI). Current investigations have begun to look at individual and group level effects of a SOC. Research continues to find an important and complicated relationship between the neighborhood (as a residential community) and a SOC, contrary to the proliferation of communities that are not based on place. Research was also discovered investigating the relationship between a SOC and history, attachment, and identity. A SOC was found to be used as a catalyst for community justice and change in several national and local initiatives.

Prevalence of sexual abuse in organised competitive sport in Australia

Abstract This article reports the first phase of a three-phase research programme investigating the prevalence and long-term sequelae associated with sexual abuse in a non-psychiatric sample of male and female Australian athletes. A cross-sectional, retrospective design, using a mailed survey, provided a quantitative assessment of sexual abuse prevalence in a national sample of elite athletes and a regional sample of club athletes. Results from the total sample (n = 370) revealed that 31% of female and 21% of male athletes reported experiencing sexual abuse at some time in their lives. Of these, 41% of females, and 29% of males had been sexually abused within the sports environment. It was also found that almost half, 46.4%, of the elite group reporting sexual abuse had been sexually abused by sports personnel. For the club group, this figure was 25.6%. Implications of these results and current initiatives for the prevention of sexual abuse of athletes in Australia are discussed.

Using past behaviour and spontaneous implementation intentions to enhance the utility of the theory of planned behaviour in predicting exercise

OBJECTIVES This study examined the utility of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), past behaviour, and spontaneous implementation intentions in predicting exercise behaviour. The psychological correlates of spontaneous implementation intentions and the moderating effects of intention, perceived behavioural control, past behaviour, and implementation intentions at various time points were also examined. DESIGN Data collection occurred over three phases with a 2- and 3-week interval. The attrition rate was 35.97% leaving a total of 162 participants (63 males, 99 females). In the first wave, participants completed measures of TPB, spontaneous implementation intentions, and past behaviour. Behaviour was assessed in the second and third waves, and a follow-up measure of spontaneous implementation intentions was completed in Phase 3. RESULTS Several regression analyses were conducted. Attitude towards exercise and perceived behavioural control made a significant contribution to the prediction of intention. Intention made a significant contribution to the prediction of implementation intentions. Spontaneous implementation intentions reduced the effect of intention and past behaviour for behaviour at 2 weeks and when indexed over a 5-week period. When behaviour was measured for a 3-week period (following an initial 2-week period), the variance that intention and past behaviour accounted for in exercise behaviour decreased, and spontaneous implementation intentions were no longer a significant predictor of behaviour. Spontaneous implementation intentions were found to interact with past behaviour, such that implementation intentions predicted exercise behaviour only among participants who did not exercise frequently in the past. CONCLUSIONS Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Unravelling Subjective Quality of Life: An Investigation of Individual and Community Determinants

Subjective quality of life is a popular measureof outcomes across fields as disparate asmedical research, community and healthpsychology and sociology. Its widespread usehas led to recent calls for a betterunderstanding of the psychological determinantsof the construct, emphasising the need to builda substantial body of knowledge around whatdetermines and impacts on perceptions of lifequality if it is to live up to currentexpectations as an outcome variable. This studyused two likely determinants of quality oflife, an individual level variable, loneliness,and a community level variable, aspects ofsense of community, and investigated theirassociation with subjective quality of life.Confidence in the results of the study wasstrengthened by repeating it in two separatetowns, matched on fundamental demographicvariables. The results revealed that subjectivequality of life was consistently associatedwith the individual level variable, loneliness,in both towns. Lonely people consistentlyreported significantly lower quality of life,particularly in the domains of intimacy,community involvement and emotional well-being.Once loneliness had been accounted for, thecommunity level variables showed much weaker,and generally no association with reportedquality of life. The importance of continuingto empirically identify variables that impactupon subjective quality of life is discussed.

Assessing Environmental Stewardship Motivation

Environmental stewardship networks flourish across Australia. Although the environment benefits, this article looks to identify what volunteers draw from their stewardship. The authors adapted 16 questions that purportedly tap environmental stewardship motivation and administered them to a convenience sample of 318 university students and then to 88 people living in rural Australia, who were either active members of environmental groups or voiced concern about local environmental issues. The results suggest that the measure consisting of these questions demonstrates acceptable internal consistency. Factor analyses support three relatively independent aspects of environmental stewardship motivation: (a) developing a sense of belonging, (b) caretaking the environment, and (c) expanding personal learning. Scores on the scale were not strongly correlated with well-being, suggesting that the scale measures more than general feelings of positive affect. Discussion focuses on the benefits of being able to reliably assess environmental stewardship motivation and areas for further development of the scale.

Perpetrator Methodology as a Predictor of Traumatic Symptomatology in Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This retrospective study explores, through quantitative and qualitative methods, the relationship of two variables (perpetrator relationship and perpetrator methodology) to posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology. The quantitative sample comprised a nonpsychiatric group (N = 39) of Australian adults reporting sexual abuse histories. A MANOVA revealed that current levels of posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology were significantly higher in the group reporting sexual abuse by a perpetrator in a relationship of trust, guardianship, or authority. The qualitative sample comprised a purposively selected subgroup of the quantitative sample (n = 20). Thematic content analyses of perpetrator methodology suggest that perpetrator strategies involving emotional manipulation, rather than the perpetrator relationship per se, appear to differentiate between groups with clinical or nonclinical levels of post traumatic and dissociative symptomatology. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods provides integrated, contextualized data with implications for future research and clinical practice.

Community Perspectives and Subjective Quality of Life

Community integration has increasingly become the focus of research and practice in the field of intellectual disability. Recent research has demonstrated that community integration needs to be more than simply living within a community, people need to use the community and feel like they belong. This study pioneers the use of a sense of community measure to better understand the degree to which feelings of belonging are associated with quality of life. One hundred and thirty two students from both urban and rural schools participated in this study. Half of them had an intellectual disability and the remainder were matched peers without a disability. Life satisfaction scores for adolescents with an intellectual disability were found to correlate significantly with reported levels of activity, friends and support in the neighbourhood. People with an intellectual disability reported lower usage of some community facilities and significantly lower social belonging and empowerment than their matched nondisabled peers. The groups did not differ significantly on the sense of community measure and the above patterns were true for both urban centres and rural towns.

Autonomy and Control Augmenting the Validity of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in Predicting Exercise

This study examined the utility of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) along with additional constructs in predicting exercise, and explored the motivational antecedents of exercise intentions. Participants included 162 Canadian University College students (61% females). Measures of TPB, autonomous and controlling intention, perceived autonomy support and core autonomous intention were completed during phase 1 of data collection. Two and three weeks later behaviour was assessed. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that: (a) attitude and perceived behavioural control significantly predicted TPB intention and core autonomous intention; (b) subjective norm predicted controlling intention; and (c) perceived autonomy support predicted autonomous and core autonomous intention. TPB intention significantly predicted behaviour. TPB is a fairly useful model for predicting behaviour and important information can be gained when other measures of intention are explored.

Playing procrustes: The interactional production of a "psychological sense of community"

The notion of “sense of community” is central to community psychologys conceptual framework. It has been described as the disciplines “overarching value” (Sarason, 1974). Allied to the notion of “sense of community” are other constructsempowerment, representation, solidaritywhich map the empirical concerns of community psychology. Together, these notions make important rhetorical claims about the modus operandi of community psychology in both research and practice. This article first seeks to illuminate some of the tensions between the rhetorical and ideological commitments of the discipline, and the primarily quantitative research methodologies it has traditionally employed. Second, a conversation analysis of the employment of a qualitatively inspired methodologythe semi-structured interviewin researching “sense of community” suggests that the uncautious embrace of a qualitative paradigm, as an approach more rhetorically congruent with the values of the discipline, may entail as many problems as it resolves.