Sense of community and community empowerment

Abstract

The research and debate on the idea of “community” is growing during last years. The social surveys show the declining of both social capital and sense of community in last decades (Putnam, 2000). At the same time, new ways of participation are arising,
according with the process of individualization and the rise of “personal communities” (Wellman, 2001). In this context, we review two central concepts of community psychology: sense of community (Sarason, 1974) and empowerment (Rappaport, 1981). Although scientifi c literaturature usually analyses empowerment and sense of community as two separated concepts, this paper shows that both processes are intertwined. Finally, we defend the application of a social network analysis approach in the determination of communities.