Exploring the Relationship between Information and Communication Technology Collective Behaviors and Sense of Community: An Urban Refugee Analysis

Simple item page
dc.contributor.author Canevez, Richard
dc.contributor.author Maitland, Carleen
dc.contributor.author Xu, Ying
dc.contributor.author Hannah, Sydney Andrea
dc.contributor.author Rodriguez, Raphael
dc.date.accessioned 2021-04-08T23:53:40Z
dc.date.available 2021-04-08T23:53:40Z
dc.date.issued 2021
dc.description Pre-print draft manuscript en_US
dc.description.abstract Purpose Helping others use information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones, can be beneficial for individuals and communities. In urban refugee communities, displaced and living far from home, collective behaviors with mobile phones can generate a sense of belonging. We explore the potential for these offline behaviors to generate a sense of community among urban refugees. Design/Methodology/Approach Using quantitative evidence, we examined the relationship between collective behaviors, such as sharing or helping with a mobile phone, and sense of community. We analyzed survey data collected from urban refugees in Rwanda via multiple regression to test hypotheses related to the impact of collective behaviors on sense of community, as well as the mediating role of ICT self-efficacy and gender. Findings Our findings suggest collective behaviors with mobile phones have a positive relationship with sense of community, driven primarily by providing assistance as compared to sharing. ICT self-efficacy was positively related to sense of community. However, collective behaviors’ impacts differed by gender, suggesting that social dynamics influence this relationship. Originality/Value While extant literature highlights the various roles of mobile phones in refugees’ lives, less is known about the social aspects of use and its potential to help overcome isolation by fostering a sense of community. We extend this literature to a novel context (urban refugees in the Global South), testing a model that incorporates other factors that may play a role (e.g. self-efficacy, gender). These findings are valuable to urban refugees, due to difficulties in re-building a sense of community and increased ICT access. en_US
dc.description.sponsorship Funding for this research was provided by the Africana Research Center at the Pennsylvania State University. The research also benefitted from cooperation with UNHCR Rwanda, particularly the assistance of Assistant Protection Officer Ruslan Shabdunov. en_US
dc.format.extent 42 pages en_US
dc.identifier.citation Canevez, R., Maitland, C., Xu, Y., Hannah, S., & Rodriguez, R. (2021). Exploring the Relationship between Information and Communication Technology Collective Behaviors and Sense of Community: An Urban Refugee Analysis. Information Technology & People. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-03-2020-0112 en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/75505
dc.language.iso en-US en_US
dc.publisher Journal of Information Technology & People en_US
dc.subject Refugees en_US
dc.subject Community development en_US
dc.subject Computer science en_US
dc.title Exploring the Relationship between Information and Communication Technology Collective Behaviors and Sense of Community: An Urban Refugee Analysis en_US
dc.type Journal en_US
dc.type.dcmi Text en_US
prism.endingpage 22 en_US
prism.publicationname Journal of Information Technology & People en_US
prism.startingpage 1 en_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
ITP Manuscript - Preprint.pdf
Size:
607 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.73 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
School of Communication and Information Faculty & Researcher Works