Neighborhoods & Communities

1. Neighborhoods & Communities Introduction to Psychology Virginia Union University

2. Neighborhoods & Communities • What kind of neighborhood have you lived in? • Urban, suburban or rural? • Racially mixed or racially segregated? • Available resources (i.e. parks, stores, positive social outlets for kids, clean streets, etc.) or non?

3. Neighborhoods & Communities • Neighborhood • Definitions vary • Can be defined politically, socially or physically • African Americans more likely to define neighborhood based on social relationships rather than location • Community • The local context in which people live • Defined by networks of associations that bind individuals, families, institutions and organizations

4. Where African Americans Live • According to the 2000 U.S. Census • African Americans comprised 12.9% of the total U.S. population • 86.5% lived in metropolitan communities • Approximately 53% lived in central cities and an increasing number living in suburbs • Although racial residential segregation declined for African Americans between 1980 and 2000, African Americans remain the most segregated ethnic group in the United States • Concentration of poverty in many urban predominantly African American communities is declining

5. Importance of Neighborhoods & Communities • Impact of neighborhood & community factors on the well-being of African Americans • Neighborhood racial composition predicts health outcomes/mortality rates

6. Theoretical Perspectives on Communities • Social Disorganization Theory • Criminality linked to limitations in community’s social resources and capacity to meet the needs of its residents • Factors such as limited community-level economic resources, ethnic heterogeneity, and high rates of residential mobility reflect community disorganization • Relationship between community violence & resident’s sense of collective efficacy • Resident’s belief that they can have an impact on behavior within their communities

7. Theoretical Perspectives on Communities • Broken Windows Theory • Crime is more likely to occur in areas where the physical environment is disorganized and unkempt • Disorganization of the physical space in the neighborhood sends a message to potential criminals that residents do not care about their neighborhood • Neighborhood crime more influenced by resident collective efficacy than upkeep of the physical environment

8. Crips & Bloods: Made in America • Identify neighborhood & community variables that contributed to the development and sustained activity of the Crips and Bloods