ArticlePloS one2023
Mapping communities as complex adaptive systems: A study of the response to violence against women by communities in Samoa.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- How can GBV Research Be Decolonized and Under What Conditions? Critical Reflection on a Comparative Ethnography of Case Studies from Samoa and Peru.Violence against women · 2026Article
- Hidden Harm-Exploring the Utility of Geostatistical Analysis to Identify Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE).Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Can co-designing interventions with affected communities help prevent violence against women? Findings from a process evaluation of the E le Saua le Alofa (Love Shouldn't Hurt) pilot in Samoa.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Violence in childhood and community contexts: a multi-level model of factors associated with women's intimate partner violence experience in Samoa.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This paper explores the concept of communities as complex adaptive systems in the context of violence against women (VAW) prevention. Using thematic network analysis on data from 80 semi-structured interviews with community members in Samoa, we found that communities exhibit many properties of complex adaptive systems. Within nested systems, diverse and dynamic agents interact based on their knowledge and attitudes, which changes over time, leading to emergent and unpredictable outcomes. The functioning of communities and their response to VAW is a product of non-linear and emerging relationships and interactions between systems components at the community level. The approach we propose for conceptualising communities as complex adaptive systems provides a structured method for designing and evaluating community-based interventions that are grounded in the local context and existing resources. With in-depth knowledge of how a community works, interventions can be better equipped to address wicked problems such as VAW.
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Registered trials
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