South African Crime Quarterly 55
Special edition: Is social cohesion the missing link in overcoming violence, inequality and poverty?
SACQ is published in partnership with UCT. To access individual articles, refer to the table of contents below
The March 2016 edition of South African Crime Quarterly is a special edition dedicated to exploring the role of social cohesion and collective efficacy in addressing violence in cities in the global south.
Social cohesion is a broad concept but generally refers to the factors that ‘hold a society together’. Collective efficacy looks at how these ties can prevent violence when they are translated into collective action at the neighbourhood level.
Rapid urbanisation in the developing world is thought to exacerbate and concentrate the linkages between poverty, inequality and violence in rapidly expanding cities. It has been hypothesised that weak social cohesion increases the risk that violence will occur, while strong social cohesion can act as a protective factor preventing violence.
Thus far, however, there has been little empirical research on social cohesion and its relationship to violence in the global south.
This edition includes articles that present research findings on these issues. It locates itself within a growing body of intellectual and policy engagement on safety in rapidly growing cities in the global south.
Chandré Gould (editor) and Vanessa Barolsky (guest editor)
Table of contents - SACQ 55
Editorial
Making sense of the duality of social cohesion
Chandre Gould, Vanessa Barolsky
Research articles
