Exploring the Social Construction of Crime by Neighborhood: News Coverage of Crime in Boston

ABSTRACT

Information disseminated by the news shapes the way that the public perceives criminal events, often providing a distorted view of crime. Previous research has largely overlooked neighborhoods in discussions of how the news portrays crime. This study examines the ways that the news media report the neighborhoods in which homicides, robberies, and assaults are committed. Multiple theoretical perspectives rooted in the law of opposites and racial typification provide differing explanations for the reporting of crime. Using Boston as a test site, this study employs a content analysis of The Boston Globe crime articles to identify the neighborhoods in which instances of homicide, robbery, and assault receive coverage. A comparison with official crime data from the Boston Police Department suggests differences in neighborhood reporting trends for robbery and assault but not for homicide. Specifically, the news media tend to disproportionately report more robberies and assaults in neighborhoods with lower levels of neighborhood disadvantage. Implications for the social construction of crime and neighborhoods as well as criminal justice response for disadvantaged neighborhoods are discussed.     

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.     

Social Capital and Neighborhood Poverty

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that concentrated neighborhood poverty has numerous detrimental effects on the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The term “neighborhood effects” has been used to describe the interaction between socioeconomic disadvantage and social problems at the neighborhood level. Social capital theory, defined broadly as social networks characterized by trust and reciprocity represents one prominent explanation for the phenomenon of neighborhood effects. Within poor neighborhoods, it is theorized that socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhood foster inadequate social capital and it is this low level of social capital that leads to the phenomenon of neighborhood effects. In order to explore the utility of social capital theory in explaining neighborhood effects, this paper argues for an ecologically-grounded model of social capital that allows for the different ways in which social capital operates within different types of neighborhoods. Implications for social work practice, policy and education are discussed.     

Building Skills for Civic Engagement: Children as Agents of Neighborhood Change

ABSTRACT

This study examines civic engagement and social development in children (N = 73) from public housing neighborhoods. Much of the research on civic engagement and social development focuses on youths and college students and the influence of participation in community service. This study addresses younger children in the process of social development and acquiring the seeds for civic engagement. Participants (X age = 9.25 years) learned to observe, photograph, and assess neighborhood strengths and challenges. They engaged in democratic processes to compile findings and present them to community members. Results indicate statistically significant changes in civic engagement and social development. Qualitative findings expand on these quantitative results. Implications for community practice and research are discussed.     

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.     

Citizens' Perceptions of the Neighborhood Council

Abstract

The paper presents the findings of a study that explored an attempt to establish neighborhood councils in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The Arab residents participating in the study recognized the importance of the neighborhood council, but expressed reservations about the extent to which the model is suited to a traditional society such as theirs. The obstacles encountered in the attempt to establish neighborhood councils derive from the residents' perception of themselves as being incapable of managing their lives autonomously. Moreover, the residents are resistant about having the neighborhood council model imposed on them by a foreign government, to which they have not given political legitimation. In this connection, it is particularly interesting to consider the responses and perceptions of Arab residents with higher education, who have expressed skepticism about the model and about the processes of participatory democracy that it represents. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail     

Middle Class Asian American Neighborhoods: Resident and Practitioner Perceptions

Abstract

We conducted a survey of 422 Asian Indian and Korean American residents of New Jersey to determine how middle-income Asian Americans rate their neighborhood environments compared to non-Asians living in the same or similar environments, and the issues that affect their neighborhood quality ratings. In addition, we interviewed practitioners in these same communities for their perceptions of their interactions with Asian Americans. The first part examines Asian Americans' perceptions of their neighborhoods; the second part focuses on resident-practitioner interactions from the perspective of practitioners. The third part discusses results. We present suggestions to practitioners for interacting with Asian American clients on a proposed land use change.     

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.     

Creating Community Partnership as Foundation for Community Building: The Case of the Renewed Kibbutz

ABSTRACT

Expansion neighborhoods, built adjacent to kibbutz neighborhoods, are a new phenomenon in the rural peripheral regions of Israel. This article evaluates the process of building community partnerships, describes frictions created between residents of the expansion neighborhoods and kibbutz members, and defines challenges that need to be overcome in order to build an integrated community within the renewed kibbutz.Data collection was based on face-to-face interviews with new residents and officials from 10 kibbutzim. Qualitative analysis show the complexity involved in the process of building community partnerships and emphasizes the need to develop structures that will allow for dialogue and collaboration.     

Clean and green organizing in urban neighborhoods: Measuring perceived and objective outcomes

ABSTRACT

One way in which urban community organizations attempt to improve neighborhood health is through cleaning and greening efforts. Few studies have evaluated how such efforts are related to changes in both residents’ perceptions of neighborhoods and objective community-wide cleaning and greening indicators over time. Drawing upon quantitative and qualitative data collected during an evaluation of a community-building initiative in two communities, results show how neighborhood changes in cleaning and greening were reflected in perceived and objective measures and how these measures compare across different time periods and sub-groups of residents within the two target communities. We provide suggestions for additional ways that future evaluations of urban cleaning and greening efforts can examine the impact.     

Creating New Patterns of Social and Economic Activity Through Planned Housing Environments

Abstract

HOPE VI programs have transformed distressed public housing areas into “planned neighborhoods.” This research highlights key results from an evaluation request by the Tampa Housing Authority to assess the social and economic impact of the local HOPE VI community. Findings suggest that the majority of residents enjoy the new neighborhood. Questions remain regarding the social cohesion among the mixed-income community residents and the potential for economic revitalization of the surrounding area. Implications for social workers are addressed.     

The Child's View of Neighborhood

SUMMARY

The research presented in this paper contributes to the social work profession by uncovering the child-neighborhood relationship as an element for assessment in direct social work practice. Neighborhood is often viewed as the domain of macro level practice. However, in direct social work practice, aspects of the broader social and physical environment are often omitted. The results of this qualitative study, in which 59 fourth and fifth graders were queried about their neighborhoods, indicate that the child-neighborhood relationship be viewed as a vital facet in direct practice assessments. Specifically, the findings suggest that four distinct components be included in the assessment of child-neighborhood relationships. Implications for the inclusion of neighborhood in bio-psycho-social assessments with children are discussed.     

THE EFFECTS OF NEIGHBORHOOD SATISFACTION ON PERCEPTION OF SAFETY AMONG REFUGEES FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

ABSTRACT

Neighborhood and urban conditions have long been shown to have a strong impact on residents’ feelings of safety and fear or crime. Researchers, however, have not tested the relationship between neighborhood conditions and perception of safety among refugees groups. Comparisons between a general sample of Louisville residents and refugees from the former Soviet Union indicated that refugees were less satisfied with their neighborhoods than the general sample, yet had significantly higher levels of perception of safety. These findings are contrary of previous research that has shown that less satisfaction is associated with lower perception of safety and are explained in terms of the contextual shifts in the management of risk. The relative and subjective meanings of social change may be of greater importance in understanding refugees’ perception of safety than relationships to immediate neighborhood settings.     

Neighborhood Qualification of the Association Between Parenting and Problem Behavior Trajectories Among Mexican‐Origin Father–Adolescent Dyads

To address the combined importance of fathers and neighborhoods for adolescent adjustment, we examined whether associations between fathers' parenting and adolescents' problem behaviors were qualified by neighborhood adversity. We captured both mainstream (e.g., authoritative) and alternative (e.g., no‐nonsense, reduced involvement) parenting styles and examined parenting and neighborhood effects on changes over time in problem behaviors among a sample of Mexican‐origin father–adolescent dyads (N = 462). Compared to their counterparts in low‐adversity neighborhoods, adolescents in high‐adversity neighborhoods experienced greater initial benefits from authoritative fathering, greater long‐term benefits from no‐nonsense fathering, and fewer costs associated with reduced involvement fathering. The combined influences of alternative paternal parenting styles and neighborhood adversity may set ethnic and racial minority adolescents on different developmental pathways to competence.     

Racial Differences in Neighborhood Disadvantage Among Childbearing Women in New York City

Abstract

An ecological framework is utilized in this study to explore the differential neighborhood environments that existed for Black and White childbearing women in New York City during the early 1990s. We examined ecological risk factors for different racial groups in a highly segregated metropolitan city and provide a framework from which we can address issues of oppression and social inequality. This study examines neighborhood conditions and determines the extent to which Black and White women, who gave birth during 1991 and 1992, occupy differing neighborhoods in New York City and in each of the boroughs that comprise New York City-Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens (excluding Staten Island).

High and persistent residential segregation of Blacks and Whites in NYC has put Black women at a clear and significant ecological disadvantage compared to White women regardless of the borough where they lived when they gave birth to their infant. This study found that, when compared to White women, Black women in New York City are at a vast disadvantage regardless of income. In Manhattan and Queens that disparity is the greatest with low income Black women much more likely than low income White women to live in a high poverty neighborhood. Overall, in NYC and across the four boroughs studied, low income Blacks were more likely than Whites to live in neighborhoods characterized by high poverty rates, substance abuse and inadequate health care.     

A Comparison of two analytic methods for the identification of neighborhoods as intervention and control sites for community-based programs

Study Objective: Interest in community as the focus of public health interventions is growing. However, choosing intervention and comparison neighborhoods when designing community based programs poses a challenge to program planners. Ideally, intervention neighborhoods should be chosen based upon risk profiles and demonstrated need for the program. Multiple sources of data that tap into neighborhood characteristics might be used to facilitate the selection of intervention and comparison neighborhoods for program implementation and evaluation.Design: We present and compare selected characteristics of two analytic methods that can be used to create perinatal risk profiles of neighborhoods within cities. For our example, we used information from several sources of routinely available data and used census tract level low birthweight as our intervention or outcome variable.Main Results: At the neighborhood level, we found average household wealth of the census tract, proportion of births to women with late or no prenatal care, proportion of teen births per census tract, per capita crime rates, proportion of housing violations, and number of community organizations as being important factors identifying neighborhoods at risk for high rates of low birthweight births. Advantages of both methods are discussed and risk profiles generated from either method can be used not only to identify high risk areas of the city for adverse perinatal outcomes but also for the identification of intervention and comparison neighborhoods for implementation of community based programs.     

Public Life in Gulfton: Multiple Publics and Models of Community Organization

Summary

Based on a case study of six community organizations in the Gulfton neighborhood in Houston, Texas, this paper proposes that community organization models need to consider that highly diverse and often contentious community efforts within a single community represent well the context of life in contemporary heterogeneous urban neighborhoods. Despite reservations, we find this diversity of organizational efforts and even the tensions among them generally positive, as they often reflect the most vibrant forms of public life in our otherwise privatizing world. Rethinking the diversity of community organizations as multiple publics in a privatizing context provides new openings for the importance and value of community organization within schools of social work and the larger society.     

RETAIL REDLINING: ARE GASOLINE PRICES HIGHER IN POOR AND MINORITY NEIGHBORHOODS?

This study uses new data on retail gasoline prices in three cities to provide evidence on the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and consumer prices. We find that prices do not vary greatly with neighborhood racial composition, but that prices are higher in poor neighborhoods. For a 10% point increase in poor families relative to middle‐upper income families, retail gasoline prices increase by an average of 0.70%. Two‐thirds of this differential is explained by cost, competition, and demand characteristics of poor neighborhoods. The remaining differential likely reflects price discrimination in response to lower competition and/or more inelastic demand in poor neighborhoods. (JEL D43, J15, L71)     

Measuring ‘neighborhood’: Constructing network neighborhoods

This study attempts to measure neighborhood boundaries in a novel way by creating network neighborhoods based on the density of social ties among adolescents. We create valued matrices based on social ties and physical distance between adolescents in the county. We then perform factor analyses on these valued matrices to detect these network neighborhoods. The resulting network neighborhoods show considerable spatial contiguity. We assess the quality of these aggregations by comparing the degree of agreement among residents assigned to the same network neighborhood when assessing various characteristics of their “neighborhood”, along with traditional definitions of neighborhoods from Census aggregations. Our findings suggest that these network neighborhoods are a valuable approach for “neighborhood” aggregation.