Showing papers on "Collective efficacy published in 2005"

Neighborhood Residence and Mental Health Problems of 5- to 11-Year-Olds

Abstract: Context Little research has investigated possible effects of neighborhood residence on mental health problems in children such as depression, anxiety, and withdrawal. Objective To examine whether children’s mental health is associated with neighborhood structural characteristics (concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential stability) and whether neighborhood social processes (collective efficacy and organizational participation) underlie such effects. Design and Setting The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods is a multilevel, longitudinal study of a representative sample of children aged 5 to 11 years in the late 1990s recruited from 80 neighborhoods. A community survey assessing neighborhood social processes was conducted with an independent sample of adult residents in these 80 neighborhoods and is used in conjunction with US census data to assess neighborhood conditions. Participants A total of 2805 children (18.1% European American, 33.8% African American, and 48.1% Latino) and their primary caregivers were seen twice. Main Outcome Measures Child Behavior Checklist total raw and clinical cutoff scores for internalizing behavior problems (depression, anxiety, withdrawal, and somatic problems). Results The percentages of children above the clinical threshold were 21.5%, 18.3%, and 11.5% in neighborhoods of low, medium, and high socioeconomic status, respectively. A substantial proportion of variance in children’s total internalizing scores (intraclass correlation, 11.1%) was attributable to between-neighborhood differences. Concentrated disadvantage was associated with more mental health problems and a higher number of children in the clinical range, after accounting for family demographic characteristics, maternal depression, and earlier child mental health scores. Neighborhood collective efficacy and organizational participation were associated with better mental health, after accounting for neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. Collective efficacy mediated the effect of concentrated disadvantage. Conclusions A large number of children in poor neighborhoods have mental health problems. The mechanism through which neighborhood economic effects operated was community social control and cohesion, which may be amenable to intervention.

Community Networks: Where Offline Communities Meet Online

Abstract: This study explores the design and practice of the Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV), a mature networked community. We describe findings from longitudinal survey data on the use and social impact of community computer networking. The survey data show that increased involvement with people, issues and community since going online is explained by education, extroversion and age. Using path models, we show that a person's sense of belonging and collective efficacy, group memberships, activism and social use of the Internet act as mediating variables. These findings extend evidence in support of the argument that Internet use can strengthen social contact, community engagement and attachment. Conversely, it underlines concern about the impact of computer networking on people with lower levels of education, extroversion, efficacy, and community belonging. We suggest design strategies and innovative tools for non-experts that might increase social interaction and improve usability for disadvantaged and underrepresented individuals and groups.

Sexual initiation in early adolescence : The nexus of parental and community control

Abstract: This study explores the link between neighborhood collective efficacy and the timing of first intercourse for a sample of urban youth. The authors hypothesize that youth who experience lower levels of parental monitoring and higher levels of exposure to neighborhood environments are more likely to be influenced by collective supervision capacity. The study also examines the extent to which parental and neighborhood controls differ in their impact on first intercourse experiences by gender. Analyses of multilevel and longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods indicate that neighborhood collective efficacy delays sexual onset only for adolescents who experience lower levels of parental monitoring. Although parental monitoring exerts significantly greater influence on girls’ timing of first intercourse the moderating effect of parental monitoring on collective efficacy holds for both boys and girls. (authors)

Collective efficacy, authoritative parenting and delinquency: a longitudinal test of a model integrating community- and family- level processes *

Abstract: In this paper, we develop and test hypotheses on how authoritative parenting and collective efficacy combine to increase a child's risk of affiliating with deviant peers and engaging in delinquent behavior. Analyses using two waves of data from a sample of several hundred African American caregivers and their children largely supported the predictions. Over time, increases in collective efficacy within a community were associated with increases in authoritative parenting. Further, both authoritative parenting and collective efficacy served to deter affiliation with deviant peers and involvement in delinquent behavior. Finally, there was evidence of an amplification process whereby the deterrent effect of authoritative parenting on affiliation with deviant peers and delinquency was enhanced when it was administered within a community with high collective efficacy.

Discovering the Impact of Community Policing: The Broken Windows Thesis, Collective Efficacy, and Citizens’ Judgment

Abstract: The main purpose of the present study is to demonstrate the structure, mechanisms, and efficacy of community policing and its impact on perceived disorder, crime, quality of life in the community, citizens’ fear, and satisfaction with the police. It compares traditional and community policing paradigms on three dimensions: goal, measurement of outcome, and approach to crime. It concludes that community policing has a comprehensive, community-oriented goal, targets both disorder and crime, and emphasizes both organizational and community measures in police evaluation. It also addresses the criticisms of community policing and tests the heatedly debated relationships concerning community policing, disorder, crime, citizen’s fear, and collective efficacy. The major findings of the study include (1) Harcourt’s falsification of Skogan’s findings is invalid because of the methodological flaws, and therefore does not negate the disorder-crime nexus; (2) Sampson and Raudenbush unintentionally demonstrate, through...

Racial Disparities in Self-Rated Health at Older Ages: What Difference Does the Neighborhood Make?

Abstract: Objectives. Racial differences in self-rated health at older ages are well documented. African Americans consistently report poorer health, even when education, income, and other health status indicators are controlled. The extent to which neighborhood-level characteristics mediate this association remains largely unexplored. We ask whether neighborhood social and economic resources help to explain the self-reported health differential between African Americans and Whites. Methods. Using the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1994–1995 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods–Community Survey, and selected years of the 1991–2000 Metropolitan Chicago Information Center– Metro Survey, we examine the impact of neighborhood structure and social organization on self-rated health for a sample of Chicago residents aged 55 and older (N ¼ 636). We use multilevel modeling techniques to examine both individual and neighborhood-level covariates. Results. Findings indicate that affluence, a neighborhood structural resource, contributes positively to self-rated health and attenuates the association between race and self-rated health. When the level of affluence in a community is low, residential stability is negatively related to health. Collective efficacy, a measure of neighborhood social resources, is not associated with health for this older population. Discussion. Analyses incorporating individual and neighborhood-level contextual indicators may further our understanding of the complex association between sociodemographic factors and health.

Racial disparities in self-rated health at older ages : What difference does the neighborhood make? Authors' reply

Abstract: Objectives. Racial differences in self-rated health at older ages are well documented. African Americans consistently report poorer health, even when education, income, and other health status indicators are controlled. The extent to which neighborhood-level characteristics mediate this association remains largely unexplored. We ask whether neighborhood social and economic resources help to explain the self-reported health differential between African Americans and Whites. Methods. Using the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1994-1995 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods-Community Survey, and selected years of the 1991-2000 Metropolitan Chicago Information Center-Metro Survey, we examine the impact of neighborhood structure and social organization on self-rated health for a sample of Chicago residents aged 55 and older (N=636). We use multilevel modeling techniques to examine both individual and neighborhood-level covariates. Results. Findings indicate that affluence, a neighborhood structural resource, contributes positively to self-rated health and attenuates the association between race and self-rated health. When the level of affluence in a community is low, residential stability is negatively related to health. Collective efficacy, a measure of neighborhood social resources, is not associated with health for this older population. Discussion. Analyses incorporating individual and neighborhood-level contextual indicators may further our understanding of the complex association between sociodemographic factors and health.

Residential Stability and the Social Impact of Neighborhood Disadvantage: A Study of Gender- and Race-Contingent Effects

Abstract: Is neighborhood disadvantage associated with social support? If so, does residential stability modify that association? And are there gender- and race-contingent patterns? Among a sample of adults aged 65 years and older, neighborhood disadvantage is associated positively with received and donated support among black women, but only in neighborhoods with higher levels of residential stability. In contrast, neighborhood disadvantage is associated negatively with donated support among white men and negatively with received support among white women, but only under conditions of low residential stability. I discuss the implications of these findings for theories about stress and community-level effects on social relationships in late life and draw linkages to the broader sociological discourse on social capital and collective efficacy.

Collective efficacy as a measure of community

Abstract: As human-computer interaction increasingly focuses on mediated interactions among groups of individuals, there is a need to develop techniques for measurement and analysis of groups that have been scoped at the level of the group. Bandura's construct of perceived self-efficacy has been used to understand individual behavior as a function of domain-specific beliefs about personal capacities. The construct of collective efficacy extends self-efficacy to organizations and groups, referring to beliefs about collective capacities in specific domains. We describe the development and refinement of a collective efficacy scale, the factor analysis of the construct, and its external validation in path models of community-oriented attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

Fear of crime in Brisbane - Individual, social and neighbourhood factors in perspective

Abstract: Numerous theories apply to fear of crime and each are associated with different kinds of variables. Most studies use only one theory, though this study examines the relative importance of different kinds of variables across a number of theories. The study uses data from a survey of residents in Brisbane, Australia to examine the relative importance of individual attributes, neighbourhood disorder, social processes and neighbourhood structure in predicting fear of crime. Individual attributes and neighbourhood disorder were found to be important predictors of fear of crime, while social processes and neighbourhood structure were found to be far less important. The theoretical implications are that the vulnerability hypothesis and the incivilities thesis are most appropriate for investigating fear of crime, though social disorganization theory does provide conceptual support for the incivilities thesis. Although social processes are less important in predicting fear of crime than neighbourhood incivilities, they are still integrally related to fear of crime: they explain how incivilities arise, they buffer against fear of crime, and they are affected by fear of crime.

The roles of collective efficacy of teachers and fiscal efficiency in student achievement

Abstract: Purpose – Public schools in the USA face increased pressures for more accountability and improved performance. The objective of this study was to wed two previously separated theoretical strands of educational research – economic theory and organizational theory – by using variables from each theory base to develop, compare, and test a series of explanatory models of student achievement.Design/methodology/approach – A diverse set of schools was provided by 146 elementary schools in Ohio. Teachers in sample schools provided data on the collective efficacy of their schools and the Ohio Department of Education supplied demographic and achievement data. An ex post facto design was used to test a theoretical set of hypotheses and several structural models. Data were collected from the teachers in each school during regularly scheduled faculty meetings and analyzed using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling.Findings – Collective efficacy of teachers in these elementary schools had a positive di...

The Utility of Social Capital and Collective Efficacy: Social Control Policy in Nonmetropolitan Settings

Abstract: Researchers and practitioners have made great strides at implementing crime reduction and prevention policies in urban areas; however, such policies are largely absent in less densely populated nonmetropolitan settings. This article provides a review of major findings from two recent nonmetropolitan studies using survey data from 1,125 citizens nested in 31 nonmetropolitan residential units (RUs) located in the state of Michigan. Hierarchical linear modeling results provide empirical evidence that the differential ability of nonmetropolitan Michigan residents to realize mutual trust and solidarity (i.e., social cohesion) is a major source of RU variation in citizens’ perceived incivility and burglary. Toward this end, several policy recommendations are endorsed in nonmetropolitan communities, whereby resources of social capital can help facilitate collective efficacy for the purpose of social control and improvement of citizen quality of life. Using a social capital framework is likely to benefit rural re...

The Ecological Context of Interpersonal Violence From Culture to Collective Efficacy

Abstract: This brief essay outlines the progression over the last 20 years of ecological theories of interpersonal violence. The period between the present and the early 1980s began with a revival of cultural explanations of violence that paralleled the introduction of the neo-conservative social science and then witnessed a rediscovery of deficitsbased structural explanations of interpersonal violence under the broad rubric of social disorganization theory. The essay concludes with a more optimistic appraisal of recent refinements of social disorganization theory that consider the mediating effects of collective efficacy on urban crime and interpersonal violence.

Pretend It Doesn'T Work: The ‘Anti-Social’ Bias In The Maryland Scientific Methods Scale

Abstract: The social constructs and methodological principles embodied in the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale (SMS), comprising part of the Campbell Collaboration in Crime and Justice assessment protocol, induce a series of biases in the evaluation of evidence of crime prevention policy interventions that focus on collective social phenomena, such as communities. Applying these principles leads to negative conclusions about effectiveness; yet their inherent ‘anti-social’ bias may induce Type II error with regard to the desirability of ‘social’ interventions to reduce crime. Policy-making is poorly served as a result. This point is illustrated, first, through a scrutiny of the social constructs used, including those that typify treatments, institutional settings and units of analysis. These are seen as being constructed in a way that is congenial to the underlying methodological issue of ‘control’ but that constitute nevertheless a distorted definition of the governance issues involved in crime reduction in community settings. A model more appropriate for evaluating voluntaristic action in civil society is needed. Second, it is suggested that this methodological bias arises particularly in policy interventions and change programmes that address issues concerning the ‘collective efficacy’ of local communities in reducing crime. An empirical exemplification of these arguments is presented with reference to a completed evaluation research study (Foster and Hope, 1993).

Community Influence on Adolescent Development

Abstract: For many, adolescence is a time when entities other than parents become an increasingly important source of developmental influence. The larger community may shape adolescents by serving as a source of risk, protection, or as a context for intervention. This chapter addresses three specific sectors of the community and their influence on adolescent development: peers, neighborhoods, and media.

Community Partnerships for Older Adults: A Case Study

Abstract: Over the past several decades, federal policy has made states and communities increasingly more responsible for providing long-term care for older adults. The Community Partnerships for Older Adults, a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, saw this as an opportunity to explore new, sustainable ways to meet current and future needs for community-based longterm care. This initiative focuses on collaborative organizational partnerships, a distinctive philosophy of teaching and learning through the exchange of experience between communities, and program learning focusing on known factors promoting organizational sustainability. Using principles that emphasize the development of social capital and collective efficacy, the authors present a case study of the early experiences of this initiative to address the challenges inherent in meeting the growing supportive service needs of older adults. The implications of this multisite community intervention for social work education and practice in aging are discussed.

Organizing, educating, and advocating for health and human rights in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Abstract: I briefly review the process of community organization, education, and advocacy activities that ended the harmful military practices in the island-municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico, while drawing attention to the intersection of human rights and social justice in the context of local and global implications. The Viequense experience was one of building an organization based on people's experiences and strengths, educating people to increase individual and collective efficacy and power, and advocating for policy change with an assertive cohesive action. Public health practitioners must continue supporting community-led interventions in the restoration of the island's environment and other resources vital for people's health and well-being.

Development and validity of a new domain-specific scale for the measurement of work-related collective efficacy

Abstract: After reviewing current scales of collective efficacy we present a new domain-specific scale that taps collective efficacy in work-related cooperation. The 8-item-scale was developed as part of a quasi-longitudinal study on knowledge cooperation in enterprises. Reliability and validity indicators were tested in a medium-sized industrial company in a sample of N = 101 employees (study 1) and tested 2 years later in a second sample from the same firm of N = 93 employees (study 2). The scale turned out to be homogeneous and reliable. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a one-dimensional structure of the new scale with significant path coefficients for both studies. An additional principal component analysis was also one-factorial (41% of variance). The particular role of work-related collective efficacy for knowledge-intensive tasks in knowledge cooperation and knowledge management is discussed. © Hogrefe Verlag, Gottingen 2005.

Racial/Ethnic Minorities and Health

Abstract: Urban cities are polarized environments combining risks and protective behaviors. This polarization tends to follow the distribution of goods and resources in our society. Racial/ethnic minority groups occupy the lower end of our society and are concentrated in areas with a high level of people living below poverty, high unemployment, high proportion of people on pubic assistance, lack of health insurance, and limited access to health care. Therefore, minorities occupy a higher risk position in our society and particularly so in urban areas. Minority groups’ exposures to health damaging circumstances and promotion of negative health behaviors are a function of their social position. Therefore, to understand the contribution of the urban environment in shaping the health of their residents, the structures and processes driving the racial/ethnic relationships of our society needs to be placed in the context of the historic, economic, and social forces creating and ultimately shaping these relationships in our day-to-day life. Specifically, the historic meaning of race, and more recently ethnicity, needs to be deconstructed to provide equal opportunities to all racial/ethnic groups in our society and to eventually eliminate the health damaging effects of the urban environment.

Beyond Minneapolis: A Preliminary Theoretical Model for Alleviating Conceptual Ruts in Domestic Violence Intervention Research

Abstract: Despite five replications, subsequent synthesis of data from domestic violence arrest studies, and years of active and often impassioned debate, in the twenty-three years since the end of the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment, domestic violence research suffers from a conceptual rut. Individual-level interventions still ground domestic violence response, and questions remain regarding the efficacy of arrest for a suspect with a low “stake in conformity.” This paper proposes two alternative theoretical models based on advances in feminist scholarship, batterer treatment, and the emergence of a literature on collective efficacy. The first model emphasizes an individual’s stake in conformity while the second focuses on community-level, informal social controls. A preliminary look at the relationship between individual- and community-level treatments, using data collected over thirty months from 474 subjects arrested for domestic violence offenses, suggests that more research is needed to address the interplay between these types of interventions and the role they may play in reducing domestic violence.

Testing the influence of collective efficacy beliefs on group level performance metrics: an investigation of the virtual team efficacy— performance relationship in information systems project management teams

Abstract: ...............................................................................................................................................III LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................................VIII LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................................................... IX CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 1 1.

Perceptions of Collective Efficacy among Abused Women in Rural Appalachia

Abstract: ............................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................ 4 List of Tables ........................................................................................................ 8 List of Figures ....................................................................................................... 9 Chapter

지역사회 주민조직 참여의 영향요인과 집합적 효능감

Abstract: This study is to identify influential factors on membership and participation in community(neighborhood) organizations, and assess their effect on residents' collective efficacy. As influential factors, this study focuses on six general categories such as socio-demography, individual residential characteristic, neighborhood attachment, neighborhood disorder, organizational climate, and decentralization. The logistic regression and hierarchical linear models were applied to 617 questionnaire data collected from 8 neighborhoods in Cheongwon-Gun, Chungcheongbuk-Do. The result shows that in terms of membership, sex, age, educational level, marital status, home ownership, number of moving, and social attachment appear to be consistently statistically significant. On the other hand, age, educational level, marital status, length of stay, number of moving, routine attachment, leadership, and members' cohesion have statistically significant influence on neighborhood organization participation. The degree of participation appears to have statistically significant effect on collective efficacy. The conclusion provides some research implications and future research directions.