Assessing the Relationship Between Collective Efficacy, Neighborhood Activism, and Organizational Participation in Chicago Neighborhoods

• In Event: Exploring the Mechanisms Underlying Community Social Organization

Abstract

A wide body of literature has identified that community collective efficacy plays an important role in shaping neighborhood outcomes such as crime and health problems. However, it is unclear from the literature which specific actions residents of collectively efficacious communities take to address neighborhood problems. Thus, this study will use data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods Community Survey to identify neighborhood- and individual-level correlates of two behaviors individuals may potentially engage in to address problems: neighborhood activism and organizational participation. If it is found that residents of collectively efficacious neighborhoods are more likely to participate in local informal organizations and activist efforts, this may shed light on a mechanism through which informal control is actualized in neighborhoods with high collective efficacy.

Author

• Riley B. Tucker, Northeastern University