Leadership in Times of Crisis: The Potential for Increasing Social Capital in Divided Communities

• Background and purpose: Crisis situations, including natural disasters, weather events, war and terrorism, have left millions of people displaced around the world. This displacement can have an impact on all aspects of life, and may result in dysfunction and increased rates of psychological trauma. Social capital plays a crucial role in crisis recovery when it comes to displaced communities. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding efforts to increase social capital in temporary housing shelters where displaced and fragmented communities reside. This lecture is based on research conducted in temporary housing centers – hotels hosting displaced communities during the war. Considering that the understanding of efforts to enhance social capital are embedded within communities, we chose a community-based participatory approach in designing the research, based on engaging community participants in reflection, understanding, and learning.

• Methods: Applying the principles of a community-based participatory approach, we conducted a multi-method study that included 7 focus groups with social workers employed by public welfare authorities and working in emergency situations in hotels hosting displaced individuals throughout the country, and 15 in-depth interviews with local leaders. These methods focused on understanding the needs of communities throughout their stay in evacuation centers, on the action strategies of social workers and leaders with an emphasis on increasing social capital, and on identifying the challenges that exist in preserving social capital in the hotels over time.

• Results: This study identified that the decisive feature of increasing social capital in temporary housing centers is dependent on the assistance of social workers to establish a joint leadership committee in the hotels, aimed at strengthening social capital by bridging and connecting. This committee of local leadership, with the assistance, support and training of social workers, works to build channels of communication, develop community agreements, increase participation in decision-making, and create multidimensional platforms that support action and promote innovation. Over time, during the stay in the evacuation centers, local leadership is undermined, weakening social capital networks.

• Conclusions and implications: A participatory approach based on joint learning, joint decision making, and local capacity building to understand problems from a systematic perspective has empowered communities, fostered their resilience, and helped clarify the role of social workers and local community leaders in increasing social capital in temporary housing shelters and in understanding the challenges in preserving social capital over time. This essential understand could promote critical awareness among a wide range of professionals and policy makers to increase social capital in displaced communities in times of crisis.