Social capital and community well-being: An examination of institutional social supports and neighborhood crime.

• In Event: Changing the Narrative for what Works to Prevent Violence in High Risk-high Need Communities

Abstract

Urban minority youth from impoverished neighborhoods are disproportionately exposed to violence on the streets, and exposure to violence is a predictor for future involvement in violence. To support this connection, these same youth are also categorically at the highest risk to perpetrate or become victims of gun violence. There are, however, protective factors that may mediate the deleterious effects for youth exposed to violence and their future potential involvement in gun violence. The current study examines the relationship between youth perceptions of neighborhood gun violence and actual rates of gun violence, and whether youth exposure to adult supports mediates this relationship. The analyses will examine the relationship between youth perception of violent crime, exposure to supportive adults and actual violent crime rates in the youths’ neighborhoods. Second, this study will examine the relationship between the prevalence of various types of community organizations and community violence.. The analyses will examine whether social capital, measured by prevalence of pro-social service organizations that serve at-risk youth in the study neighborhoods is a mediator of violent crime committed by youthful offenders in these neighborhoods. This relationship is examined while controlling for neighborhood characteristics related to concentrated disadvantage and social disorganization. A final set of analyses will examine this relationship after the onset of a violence prevention initiative, which required horizontal linkages (i.e., coordinate services) across neighborhood organizations

Author

• Trevor Fronius, WestEd