State responsiveness, collective efficacy and threatperception: Catalyst and complacency effects inopposition to crime across eight countries

Abstract

Collective action can be a crucial tool for enabling individu-als to combat crime in their communities. In this research,we investigated individuals' intentions to mobilize againstorganized crime, a particularly impactful form of crime char-acterized by its exercises of power over territories and com-munities. We focused on individuals' views and perceptionsof state authorities, examining how these views may be linkedto intentions for collective mobilization. Using a large data-set with participants from eight countries (NTotal = 2088),we tested two distinct and opposing indirect paths throughwhich perceived state responsiveness may be associated withcollective mobilization intentions against organized crime,namely increased collective community efficacy (a CatalystIndirect Effect) and diminished perceived threat from crimi-nal groups (a Complacency Indirect Effects). Results showedthat state responsiveness was associated with stronger collec-tive action intentions through increased collective communityefficacy. There was also some evidence of reduced collectiveaction intentions through diminished perceived threat. Thesefindings highlight the complex role of state responsiveness inpredicting people's intentions to mobilize against collectiveproblems in their communities. Implications of the findings,limitations and future directions are discussed.