Community and sense of community: The case of an urban barrio in Caracas

This paper presents a review of the concepts of “community” and “sense of community.” To discuss the concept of “community,” reference is made to the different definitions provided in the literature analyzing and describing their components and determining their adequacy and relevance to the theories of Community Social Psychology. Based upon the work of McMillan (1976) and McMillan and Chavis (1986) the authors analyze the concept and definition of “sense of community” and describe its components. The analysis of these concepts within the framework of Community Social Psychology underlies the fact that these terms cannot be separated as well as the need to vindicate the historical nature of community building processes and the sense of community of their members. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.