Community coalitions by examples: from networks to social capital Ignacio Ramos Vidal

The role of coalitions to promote community development The problems that affect the community are too complex and persistent to be solved by a single institution Wide dimensions, costs and multidimensional nature of many social demands Coalitions often works across sectors, and are formed by public entities and private actors O’Toole, 1997; Provan & Fish, 2012 Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Main features of coalitions A coalition is a set of organizations (or individuals) that: Works together to deal social problems Develops their task in a collaborative way Often adopts a network structure The decision making process is (or should be) bottom up (born from the community itself) Formal Institutions X √ Community Bornstein et al., 2015; Chavis, 2001 Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

What do community coalitions? Are involved in all stages of program development (diagnosis, design, implementation and evaluation) Improve the delivery of health and social services Amplifies the effects of social and community interventions Identify the problems that are influencing on the community well-being Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Examples of coalitions Global action coalitions Local action coalitions International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA)  Fight against Zika virus Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS  Empower youth population to face HIV pandemic National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media (http://www.coalitionagainstracism.org/) Community coalition in South L.A improve neighbourhoods, schools and community environment Community coalition in Ayacucho (Peru)  youth participation and health risk prevention Community Coalition for Family Wellness (South Glenn Falls, NY)

If the coalition really works…. An increase of sense of community is probable that occurs Multilevel empowerment process is activated Civic engagement is revitalized The community is prepared to address new social problems Social cohesion could be restored and enhanced Chilensky et al. 2016; Douglas, 2015 Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Some challenges to coalition success Manage the resources in an efficient and transparent way Capacity to adapt the structure to new needs Create a system for conflict resolution (solve internal frictions or fights among members to gain visibility) Promote a participatory and distributive leadership Chavis, 2001; Minkler, 2012 Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

“Tips” for coalition success and institucionalization Facilitate the appropriation of interventions developed by the coalition’ members (Success distribution) Implement protocols to make more accessible the ways to collaborate with the coalition Increase the coalition visibility in the community context Reduce the barriers to participate and increase the benefits associated with engage in actions Wells et al.,2007; Shapiro et al., 2015 Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Networks and Intervention Programs The main function of coalitions is provide programs (ie., risk prevention & health promotion) Programs should be analyzed from a structural perspective Many agencies collaborate in all the stages of program development The links mantained by the participating organizations (and the structure derived) may determine the success of the actions developed by the coalition Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Analyzing from a conventional viewpoint You can observe the participants of a coalition like a mere sum of nodes isolated Assuming that coordination and interaction patterns are not influencing on coalition goals There is no interdependence nor influence between agencies All the actors (agencies) has the same power Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Analyzing from a structural viewpoint If you observe the coalition as a network: Assuming that relationships among members affects the coalition survival Changes in coalition structure impacts on program delivery Alterations in the positioning of organizations explains coalition success/failure Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Implementing and evaluating programs through SNA Identify if there are nodes or subgroups isolated Identify the actors that participate in the program NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROGRAM DESIGN Identifying opinion leaders to act as change agents Using community members as recruiting agents Attending to social media and other communication needs Increase cohesion during implementation Evaluate centrality scores of actors that are receiving the intervention Analyze if the intervention is changing the coalition structure IIMPLEMENTATION MONITORING Documentation of the behavior of leaders Evaluate the feasibility of program continuity Evaluate the contagion dynamics within the network (influence) Gest et al., 2011;Valente et al., 2015

Evaluating coalitions through SNA tools Coalition actions are usually coordinated by a small set(s) of central actors (the Core) The Core is composed for no more than 20% of the organizations involved in the coalition Peripheral actors shows a low degree of connections with core members also showing poor connections with periphery SNA allows to evaluate empirically the presence of subgroups and core-periphery structure that characterize most networks Valente et al.,2008 Chu et al., 2015 Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Core Members Peripheral Members 18 25 30 32 9 13 21 24 28 23 4 7 16 17 27 22 31 20 29 6 10 19 14 11 26 8 2 5 1 15

Core Members Peripheral Members 18 25 30 32 9 13 21 24 28 23 4 7 16 17 27 22 31 20 29 6 10 19 14 11 26 8 2 5 Core Members 1 15

Core Members Periphery Members 18 25 30 32 9 13 21 24 28 23 4 7 16 17 27 22 31 20 29 6 10 19 14 11 26 8 2 5 Core Periphery 1 15

In the first steps many coalitions shows: Many organizations isolated or with very few connections A centralizated distribution of relationships A dense core with few actors Subgroups formed on the basis of task especialization Few interactions among sub-units and stakeholders Seggregation derived from geographical dispersion Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Signs of positive coalition evolving Reducing the number of organizations isolated Increase reciprocity Augmenting cohesion (i.e., density, transitivity) Decrease network centralization (three parameters) Increasing the core size Boosting the average degree of clossenness Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Structural Social Capital (Types and Levels) Bonding TYPES Hybrid Bridging Structural Social Capital Collective (whole coalition) LEVELS OF ANALYSIS Individual (single actors) Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Types of Structural Social Capital Bonding Social Capital Bridging Social Capital FEATURES Networks are cohesive Based on trust, affinity, norms and reciprocity Members are similar and are linked by strong ties PROFITS ASSOCIATED Reinforce norms and values Maintain the stability of coalition Strengthen trust in members FEATURES Networks are fragmented Showing different subgroups Members are heterogeneous and are linked by weak ties PROFITS ASSOCIATED Generate innovations Access to new resources Potential capacity to respond to new needs and changing environments

Bridging Social Capital Bonding Social Capital

Multiple subgroups and Medium Density Single component and High Density

Structural Social Capital (Whole Vs Individual) Whole Network (Coalition Level) Each network configuration defined different types of social capital A coalition can take advantage adapting the structure to context demands and program needs The coalition life cycle may need to adopt mixed strategies in different stages This decision depends on: (a) Kind of actions developed by the coalition; (b) the projection (local Vs. global); and (c) the complexity of the environment

Structural Social Capital (Whole Vs Individual) Individual Level The focus are the relationships that each actor maintain with other members of the coalition Each organizations has differential power to exert influence on network structure The position determines the role developed in the coalition

Structural Social Capital (Whole Vs Individual) Individual Level The kind of ties and the contacts to which the actor is linked defines his individual social capital Be central or peripheral has differential effects See organization 7 and 10

Structural Social Capital (Individual Level) This organization established several connections Is a core node (high centrality) The potential to influencing on other actors is great in center than in periphery May be a key node to diffuse information in core and periphery 7

Structural Social Capital (Individual Level) This organization mantain few connections Is a peripheral node (low centrality) The potential to exert influence on other actors is great in periphery than in center May be a key node to diffuse information to periphery actors Integrate pendants actors 10 10

Conclusions Coalitions are an effective strategy to face community problems SNA is a powerfull tool to evaluate and improve the actions delivered by the coalition The programs implemented should be accompanied of an increase of empowerment The final (and desirable) step is that community become the main owner of the actions Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Some resources…. Community Coalition for Family Wellness http://preventioncouncil.org/family-wellness-coalition/ Community coalition for Haiti: http://cchaiti.org/ Community coalition for suicide prevention: http://www.masspreventssuicide.org/ Community coalition for drug prevention (Mexico): http://www.coaliciones.org/ Mixed methods, social networks and community interventions: international workshop

Community coalitions by examples: from networks to social capital Ignacio Ramos Vidal ignacioramosvidal@hotmail.com