Is Collective Efficacy a Theory of Offending? Unraveling the Relationship between Individual-Level Perceptions of Collective Efficacy and Youth Offending

This study seeks to reaffirm the value of collective efficacy as a theory of offending and highlight a crucial individual-level mechanism through which collective efficacy may operate: individual-level perceived collective efficacy-subjective collective efficacy. We highlight the need to distinguish between individual-level perceptions of collective efficacy and the macro-level construct of collective efficacy. Analyzing data from the PHDCN, our study revealed that neighborhood levels of collective efficacy did not exert a direct effect on offending. However, neighborhood-level collective efficacy decreased offending indirectly through individual-level subjective collective efficacy. Our research suggests that scholars need to expand upon their conceptualization of collective efficacy and seek a more nuanced understanding of how collective efficacy operates at the macro and micro levels. In particular, we conclude that subjective collective efficacy should be understood as a cognitive landscape-a way of seeing the world-and be given theoretical and empirical attention.