What is a coalition? A systematic review of coalitions in community psychology
Jennifer Lawlor, Kyle Metta, Zachary P. Neal
Abstract
Abstract While community psychologists often work with coalitions, these entities engage in a wide range of activities and structures that are not well defined within the field. In this paper, we explore the following questions: (a) What are the characteristics of coalitions community psychologists study? (b) What are the themes in the way authors define coalitions in their work? To address these questions, we conducted a systematic review of articles about coalitions in journals serving community psychologists. Findings suggest coalitions in community psychology can be characterised by a focus on a wide variety of local level community issues and include a diverse group of stakeholders. Coalitions are defined by a focus on three types of coordination: knowledge coordination, negotiated coordination, and action coordination. These types of coordination are used to address specific problems coalitions encounter and define the goals and techniques appropriate for resolving them. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.