Socializing efficacy: A reconstruction of self-efficacy theory within the context of inequality

Bandura's self-efficacy (SE) theory claims that if people believe that they can control the outcome of their behaviour, then they can. SE theory posit ions the self as the centre and originator of change, beginning with contro l over belief systems, which determine levels of performance. This concepti on depoliticizes social mechanisms of control, internalizing them within in dividual cognitive processes. We argue that SE theory emanates from cultura lly-positioned and ideologically informed functional trends in US psycholog y, which perpetuates a blaming-the-victim approach to social problems. Thro ugh an examination of the way gender and disability are manipulated in SE r esearch, we show that efficacy is socially construed, and is actually about control over and access to power and the ideological, institutional, and s ocial resources that provide the foundation for taking certain actions. Cop yright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.