Underlying Dimensions of Social Cohesion in a Rural Community Affected by Wartime Violence in Colombia.

Ignacio Ramos-Vidal,Alicia Uribe,Ilse Villamil

doi:10.3390/ijerph16020195

Abstract

War deteriorates the quality of life of the population and profoundly alters social dynamics. We discuss a rural community in northern Colombia whose population was the victim of a massacre and examine the main components that model social cohesion: (a) positive attitudes towards the community, (b) prosocial behaviours and (c) interpersonal relationships. This investigation is a cross-sectional empirical study that includes an analysis of social support networks. The research involved 106 residents, (81.1%, women), with an average age of 42.5 years (standard deviation (SD) = 16.4), who have lived in the community an average 28.8 years (SD = 18.75). Cluster analysis shows that there are two types of personal networks based on homophily and the duration of the ego-alter relationship. The networks that provide the most types of social support shows a moderate level of homophily according to the type of relationship and place of origin and in which the duration of the ego-alter relationship is shorter, compared to networks characterized by high homophily and in which the duration of the ego-alter relationship is longer (χ2 = 5.609, p < 0.018). Homophily based on place of residence actively affects the sense of community and social cohesion. Moreover, the sense of community is the variable that most affects social cohesion (β = 0.650; p < 0.001) and is, in turn, determined by prosocial behaviour (β = 0.267; p < 0.006). However, prosocial behaviours do not significantly affect interpersonal relationships or community cohesion. The results are discussed to promote social development strategies aimed at building individual, organizational and community capacity to foster psychosocial well-being in post-war contexts.

Highlights

Five regressions are developed to identify the associations between the independent variables (interpersonal relationships, attitudes towards the community (PSoC) and prosocial behaviors (PE and community participation (CP)))
The personal networks of the interviewees have a high degree of density and a general homophilic tendency, based on the different attributes
We apply theoretical model model that that shows shows that that social social cohesion cohesion is is based based on on the the attitudes, attitudes, prosocial prosocial behaviours behaviours and and theoretical interpersonal relationships relationships that that connect connect the the members interpersonal members of of aa community

Summary

Introduction

War produces remarkable effects in social dynamics during the time in which the conflict is active and in the post-conflict stage [1]. Different studies show that countries that have suffered wars experience notable changes in economic, political and social systems. These investigations usually focus on showing the consequences of conflict in times of war, but on rare occasions the psychosocial processes that trigger these transformations are examined. It is rare to identify studies that analyse the transition from when the conflict is active until the post-conflict phase begins. The work proposed by Wood [2] is an exception, insofar as it examines the effects that different armed conflicts

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