Everyday Meaning of Neighboring in Old Age in an Urban District

ABSTRACT

Contact and assistance between neighbors are prominent forms of social exchange in a spatial context. For older adults, the neighborhood gains in importance when mobility disabilities increase. This explorative study, therefore, aimed to investigate given and received neighborhood help and the everyday meaning of neighboring among older adults in an urban district. Study participants were aged 60 years and older (N = 100) living in an urban district of Zurich, Switzerland. Results highlight that older adults reported vivid interactions with their neighbors and that reciprocity exists between given and received neighborhood help. Besides that, daily contact and neighborhood help affect the perceived feeling of neighboring. Data indicate that neighboring is a meaningful resource for coping with everyday life situations in old age in an urban context.     

Neighborhood disadvantage and anger among older adults: social comparisons as effect modifiers

Using data from a sample of 1,136 adults ages 65 and older in the District of Columbia and two adjoining counties in Maryland, we examine the association between neighborhood structural disadvantage and levels of anger. In addition, we test whether subjective financial comparisons with neighbors modify those effects differently for elders at different levels of income. We find that the association between neighborhood disadvantage and anger is positive among lower-income elders who feel financially advantaged relative to their neighbors. In contrast, the association between neighborhood disadvantage and anger is positive among higher-income elders who feel financially disadvantaged relative to their neighbors. Irrespective of income, neighborhood disadvantage is unrelated to anger among people who feel financially similar to their neighbors. We discuss the implications of our findings for the study of neighborhood context and health, underscoring interrelationships among inequality, social comparisons, and the stress process.     

Urban Community Action Planning Inspires Teenagers to Transform Their Community and Their Identity

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the way a participatory community development technique, Urban Community Action Planning (UCAP), transformed a group of city teenagers into community planners. This teen group, Teen Inspirators, On the Move, formed in response to a community need for more youth activities and programming. This need was identified during a Community Planning Initiative sponsored by the Oak Hill Community Development Corporation located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Teen Inspirators committed themselves to revitalizing their community and changing their own image in the neighborhood. Participatory planning techniques gave youth the voice, power, and tools to accomplish these goals.     

Fostering transnational dialogue: Lessons learned from women peace activists

Abstract

Given the incredible diversity of the anti-globalization movement, developing inclusive and participatory spaces is an enormous challenge. Inequities in power, resources, and experience between Northern and Southern activists are of particular concern to a movement that values democratic participation. Dialogue is seen as a critical new way of addressing conflicts within the movement. For three decades, women's organizations dealt with similar issues at the UN World Conferences on Women. It was not until the 1990s that a global women's movement emerged. This paper, which is based on a qualitative study of women's peace organizations gathered at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in 1995, addresses the development of positive coalition dynamics. The focus on individual activist stories fills in gaps left by studying organizations as units of analysis or on transnational movements as a whole. My research shows that if transnational activists use constructive approaches, conflict can assist in building coalition dynamics necessary for effective and equitable cooperation. I conclude that a commitment to respond to conflict in a constructive manner is as important for coalition building as formal processes or mechanisms that foster dialogue.     

Do work commutes moderate the association between perceived neighborhood disorder and psychological distress?

ABSTRACT

Although numerous studies show that living in a neighborhood that is characterized by disorder (crime and dilapidation) can be psychologically distressing, very few studies have considered the element of exposure time or duration of exposure to adverse neighborhood environments. In this paper, we explore the intersection of commuting, mental health, and the subjective experience of neighborhood disadvantage and impoverished community life. Using data from the Welfare, Children, and Families project (2001), a probability sample of 1057 low-income women with children living in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, we test whether the association between neighborhood disorder and psychological distress is moderated or attenuated by commuting time and distance. Our results show that although neighborhood disorder is associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and somatization, disorder tends to be less distressing for residents who are able to spend time away from these environments through longer commuting times and distances. In other words, working away from one’s neighborhood of residence may help to mitigate the adverse psychological consequences of neighborhood disorder. Our findings support previous research on the stress process and neighborhood disorder. Our work builds on the commuting literature by re-conceptualizing commuting time and distance as protective resources for disadvantaged populations.     

Neighborhood Games as a Community-Building Strategy

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the use of neighborhood games and contests as an alternative approach to community building, and as a complement to traditional issue or interest organizing. It places these activities within the broader contexts of celebration and festivity, noting the relative lack of such events within modern American secular culture. The planning, implementation, and results of two neighborhood-wide games and contests are then described, as carried out in a representative suburban neighborhood. Though full and accurate evaluation is challenging, the community-building promise of these activities is documented. The prospects for future development and use of similar community events are then considered.     

Toward a New Conceptualization of Suburbs: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

Abstract

The objective of this research is to see whether characteristics of the neighborhood in which a person lives influence the likelihood of having a gun in the household. I use my 1995 “Community, Crime and Health” multilevel data set, a survey of a probability sample of 2,482 Illinois adults with linked census information on the respondent's census tract, zip code, city and county from the STF3 of the 1990 Census. Logistic regression shows that gun ownership is low in neighborhoods where a high percentage of adults are college-educated. Adjustment for individual-level race, ethnicity, sex, age, education, income, and household structure indicates that the presence of well-educated neighbors affects the likelihood of gun ownership, over and above individual characteristics. This relationship appears to be due to the normative climate, not to perceived threat, since neighborhood disorder does not significantly affect the likelihood of having a gun in the house. Previous victimization, however, is positively associated with having a gun in the household. In addition, people who are college-educated themselves are less likely to have a gun in the household.     

Foster care,geographic neighborhood change,and the risk of delinquency

Background and purposePrevious studies report that foster care placement is associated with an increased risk of delinquency. Yet it remains unclear which aspects of the placement experience increase the risk of delinquency. The current study addresses this knowledge gap. This study investigates the relationship between geographic neighborhood change and the risk of delinquency for adolescents in foster care settings. Based on findings from the neighborhood effects literatures, we hypothesize that moving to a neighborhood characterized by concentrated disadvantage and residential instability is associated with increased risk of delinquency.MethodsThe design for the current study is longitudinal. The sample is comprised of 145 foster youth from two birth cohorts, one born in 1983 and one in 1984, in Chicago, Illinois. The sample was 92% African American and 52% male. Overall, 11% had an official juvenile arrest. We used data from multiple sources, including the 1990 census data and administrative data from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Cook County Juvenile Court. To measure neighborhood change, we calculated a difference between children's home and placement neighborhoods on ten census variables: percentages of households in a given neighborhood that were below the poverty line, neighborhood households on public assistance, female-headed households, unemployed population, and persons < 18 years old, African American, Latino, foreign-born, residents living in the same house as five years earlier, and owner-occupied homes, all of which are commonly used in neighborhood studies. We identified two factors within the neighborhood variables—concentrated disadvantage and residential instability,—and used the two-factor scores in the following analysis. We conducted a Cox regression to model time to first arrest.ResultsThe results indicate that moving to a neighborhood with high residential instability significantly increases an individual's risk of juvenile delinquency. In addition, two subgroups—male foster youth; and all foster youth with an experience of neglect—are significantly more likely to be associated with a formal delinquency petition.Conclusions and implicationsThe current study is unique and builds the knowledge base with regard to the placement of children and adolescents in substitute care settings. The findings indicate that the neighborhoods in which children are placed do matter in terms of their outcomes, and thus they should be considered in the placement decision process. This finding is consistent with the “person-in-environment” concept advanced by social work professionals.     

Promoting Computer-Mediated Communications in Community Coalitions

SUMMARY

Community coalition participants are adopting new communication tools. This article identifies issues involving adoption of one type of communication tool, computer-mediated communications (CMC), based on a review of relevant literature and a recent exploratory research study of CMC adoption by community coalitions. Suggestions for aiding adoption and anticipating problems are presented and some social justice and professional value issues are highlighted. Human service professionals whose work involves community coalitions may find the theoretical background and practical advice useful in anticipating and responding to CMC changes in coalitions.     

The Impact of Different Kinds of Neighborhood Involvement on Residents' Overall Evaluations of Their Neighborhoods

Abstract

This paper focuses on the relative impact of different kinds of social participation on an individual's sentiment toward his or her neighborhood. Three kinds of neighborhood participation are considered: (1) informal social participation; (2) involvement in formal neighborhood voluntary associations; and (3) use of neighborhood services. Survey data on nine moderate income neighborhoods with various racial mixes are employed in the analysis. The results of the regression analysis indicate that informal social participation and use of neighborhood services are positively associated with overall sentiment toward the neighborhood, whereas involvement in formal neighborhood voluntary associations has no relationship to the dependent variable. The implications of these findings for policy-making concerned with neighborhood maintenance and revitalization are discussed.     

Who Writes the “Therapeutic Story” of Families in Extreme Distress: Overcoming the Coalition of Despair

ABSTRACT

When families in extreme distress come to social workers, the enormity of their needs often stresses the workers. The problems which these families face often require material and personal resources in excess of what the agency can provide. This places the worker in a position of being under pressure from both sides the clients and the organization. In these situations, the workers and families together can become subject to a coalition of despair. It is characterized by exhaustion and losing hope that therapeutic change is possible. A way to overcome or avoid the coalition is proposed.     

TOXIC NEIGHBORS: FORECLOSURES AND SHORT‐SALES SPILLOVER EFFECTS FROM THE CURRENT HOUSING‐MARKET CRASH

Do home foreclosures and short sales equally affect neighbors? On average, no‐default homes sell anytime up to 6 months after sales of foreclosed neighbors suffer a cumulative spillover effect of about 10%. Including the market trend, the total effect increases to 40%. Controlling for foreclosure effects, short sales do not produce additional spillover effects. We apply a modified hedonic model to estimate spillover effects on neighbors, using January 2008 to June 2009 home transactions from one of the most impacted housing markets. Our findings apply to severely “thin” markets and may not be true for stable markets. We show that accurate estimates of spillover effects require correcting for the market trend, two types of time and spatial price interdependence, and the endogenous neighborhood price. (JEL R21, R22, R31, K2)     

Creating a Latino/Hispanic Alliance

Abstract

The author presents an overview of the significance that key cultural elements such as race, color, and language have on affecting coalition building between and among Latinos/Hispanics in the U.S. A discourse on a proposed paradigm for coalition building is also presented.     

Bridging ties at the neighborhood level

This paper examines the relevance of the “strength of weak ties” model (Granovetter 1973) in devising community development strategies for urban neighborhoods. The policy implications of this model for activities designed to promote neighborhood identification and cohesion are outlined, and Granovetter's specific assumptions about the structure and functioning of urban neighborhood social networks are assessed in light of existing research. Little support is found for the presumed absence of bridging weak ties among urban neighbors, or for the assumption that strong ties create an obstacle to effective political mobilization in working-class neighborhoods. An alternative model of local-level integration is suggested, which retains Granovetter's concept of dense clusters of network ties linked by “local bridges”, but re-examines the role of weak ties in effecting such bridges.     

Coalition-Based Social Change Initiatives

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a model for establishing and maintaining social change coalitions. The model, based on the authors' study of a successful coalition-based social change initiative, highlights the potential contribution of a neutral, external support agency whose goal is to help a group of organizations collaborate in an effort to promote change in social policy in an area of shared concern. The external agency brings knowledge and experience in working with coalitions, needs to be trusted by all the coalition partners, and should be perceived as not competing for recognition or resources, and as having only the common goal in mind. The components of the model and the methodology employed to develop it are presented, followed by assessment of its generalizability to other settings. Experts, from different disciplines, countries and ethnic backgrounds, advised that this model has great potential for solving social problems in many different areas.     

Neighborhood Conditions,Parenting, and Adolescent Functioning

ABSTRACT

This study examined youth self-reported data from a 4-year longitudinal study of 5th and 8th grade youth and their parents. Relationships between neighborhood conditions, parenting, and youth antisocial behavior were tested using structural equation modeling. The findings of this study appear to suggest there are two social forces that affect youth antisocial behavior: parenting and neighborhood conditions. Higher levels of parental acceptance and monitoring are directly and significantly associated with lower levels of youth antisocial behavior, as are higher levels of community social integration and lower levels of youth loneliness. Overall, it was found that some measures of neighborhood conditions and some measures of parenting were relatively equally predictive of youth antisocial behavior. Other measures of neighborhood conditions were predictive of parenting, but not strongly enough to also impact adolescent functioning.     

Building community-engaged practicum units through anchor institutions: The case of Southside Initiative

ABSTRACT

This article provides the assessment results from a community-engaged field education unit for social work students situated within a neighborhood setting in the South-Central region of the United States. A community-university partnership between several community institutions and a school of social work created the Southside Initiative (SSI) as a means to build capacity within the Oaks neighborhood. This neighborhood lacked professional social workers but was rich in other types of assets. The lessons learned from this initiative provide preliminary understanding about the benefits, complexity, and challenges of building and sustaining community-rooted practicum placements in neighborhood settings.     

University Civic Engagement with Community-Based Organizations

Abstract

This article compares and contrasts two case studies of large research universities involved in civic engagement projects with urban nonprofit community-based organizations and neighborhood associations. The article uses a community building framework in which organizational, interorganizational, and community-level features are examined. The study found that each university used a different approach through which to achieve a university-community partnership. A dispersed model favored an entrepreneurial approach for individual faculty and student involvement, while the coordinated model requested faculty and students from different departments to work together toward a community-driven goal. The extent to which these different models of civic engagement delivered what community organizations wanted was based on five factors: (1) the university's geographic proximity to a tar get low-income neighborhood, (2) leadership for institutional social commitment, (3) use of community-based research, (4) funding as a social strategy, and (5) a flexible curriculum. Challenges faced by faculty, students, and practitioners are addressed, and directions for future research are suggested.