The point of intervention is not to clean up the neighborhood, but to work on its collective efficacy.

"What we are discovering around collective efficacy was not terribly obvious before we started to measure it with some precision."

Empirically, collective efficacy is shown to causally affect collective action among a number of populations across varied contexts.

In their journal article "Beyond social capital: Spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children", Sampson et al. stress the normative or goal-directed dimension of social capital.

Both collective efficacy and specialization are cornerstones to two very successful forms of civic based, non-monetary economies: time banks and local exchange trading systems (LETS).

If anything, the Chicago study demonstrates the fragility of collective efficacy.

It is important to note that collective efficacy is an overall shared belief amongst team members and not merely the sum of individual self-efficacy beliefs.

Living in neighborhoods with increased poverty, ethnic heterogeneity and decreased collective efficacy (social cohesion among neighbors) are all found to be linked to increased femicide rates in that area.

The study concluded "place-based social processes found in community gardens support collective efficacy, a powerful mechanism for enhancing the role of gardens in promoting health."

Perhaps the biggest influence on fear of crime is public concern about neighbourhood disorder, social cohesion and collective efficacy.