Date of Award
2001
Degree Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Paul Florin
Abstract
Empirical work on conditions in economically deprived neighborhoods, suggest that neighborhood conditions can exert negative effects human development even after accounting for individual characteristics of neighborhood residents. One of the most important theories regarding the ways in which neighborhood conditions impact behavior is the theory of social disorganization. Social disorganization posits that poverty and disorganizing social conditions interfere with the ability of neighborhood residents to form and enforce common social norms, leading to social problems (Byrne & Sampson, 1993, Sampson & Groves, 1989). Despite the utility of theories such as social disorganization, the measurement of important mediating variables between structural neighborhood conditions and behavior has often been neglected (Byrne & Sampson, 1993, Kornhauser, 1978). This investigation addressed this issue by measuring the influence of neighborhood social disorganization on possible mediating variables, namely, ratings of neighborhood climate, perceptions of resident control over neighborhood conditions and neighboring. In addition, the investigation measured the effects of neighborhood level economic deprivation and the effects of disorganized social conditions separately due to criticism that social disorganization theory fails to distinguish between the effects of poverty and the effects of a disorganized social milieu (Baron & Straus, 1989). The data for this investigation was taken from a telephone survey conducted in Providence, RI in 1993, and from the 1990 census. Hierarchical linear modeling was utilized to analyze the data. The results indicate that neighborhood climate and neighboring, are negatively correlated with both neighborhood level economic deprivation and neighborhood level social disorganization.
Recommended Citation
Kingston, Sharon, "The relationship between a sense of community and social disorganization and neighborhood deprivation" (2001). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1864.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/1864
Terms of Use
All rights reserved under copyright.