Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Health Soc Care Community. 2020 Nov;28(6):1863-1883. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13047. Epub 2020 Jun 20.
Research within the community-based child protection approach has used the neighbourhood collective efficacy theory of social disorganisation to focus on investigating the social conditions and processes that facilitate residents' ability to intervene or protect children from parental maltreatment. However, much of the research into the protective effects of neighbourhood collective efficacy on child maltreatment has yielded mixed results. In a review of empirical studies published between 2008 and 2019, we investigated the sources of these mixed findings and the pathways through which neighbourhood collective efficacy could protect children from parental maltreatment. Following the PRISMA guidelines for systematic literature reviews yielded 21 empirical research articles on the subject that were critically examined in line with the theoretical underpinning and research questions. Evidence suggests both direct and sequential pathways in which increased social cohesion and informal social control (ISC) protect against parents' maltreatment behaviours. Higher levels of neighbourhood social cohesion were found to be a potential primary preventive strategy against risk factors for maltreatment. The use of ISC measures from the traditional collective efficacy scale account for the mixed findings and limited research on the direct and indirect forms of ISC. Moreover, the transactional processes posited by collective efficacy theory that link neighbourhood social cohesion to ISC have yet to be examined and confirmed with respect to child maltreatment. Studies addressing these theoretical and methodological gaps are encouraged, in particular, studies examining ISC dimensions using item measures of specific residents' actions within child maltreatment behaviours. The results provide implications for community-based child protection practice, in terms of promoting cultural norms and values that foster social cohesion and facilitate ISC interventions within neighbourhoods.
基于社区的儿童保护方法的研究采用了社会失序的邻里集体效能理论，重点调查促进居民干预或保护儿童免受父母虐待的社会条件和过程。然而，许多关于邻里集体效能对儿童虐待的保护作用的研究结果喜忧参半。在对 2008 年至 2019 年期间发表的实证研究进行综述后，我们调查了这些混合结果的来源，以及邻里集体效能可以保护儿童免受父母虐待的途径。根据系统文献综述的 PRISMA 指南，对该主题的 21 篇实证研究文章进行了批判性审查，并根据理论基础和研究问题进行了审查。有证据表明，社会凝聚力的增强和非正式社会控制（ISC）可以通过直接和顺序途径保护儿童免受父母虐待行为的侵害。研究发现，邻里社会凝聚力水平较高是预防虐待风险因素的潜在主要策略。传统的集体效能量表中的 ISC 措施的使用解释了混合结果以及对 ISC 的直接和间接形式的有限研究。此外，集体效能理论中假设的邻里社会凝聚力与 ISC 之间的相互作用过程尚未针对儿童虐待进行检验和确认。鼓励开展解决这些理论和方法学差距的研究，特别是使用针对儿童虐待行为中特定居民行为的项目措施来研究 ISC 维度的研究。研究结果为基于社区的儿童保护实践提供了启示，特别是在促进文化规范和价值观方面，这些规范和价值观可以促进社会凝聚力并促进邻里内的 ISC 干预。
