Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Social Consequences of Neighborhood Economic Diversity

在美国大多数大都市地区，住宅经济隔离相对于种族隔离来说是适度的，这意味着有许多经济多样化的社区。然而，研究人员并没有认真研究社区内部的经济多样性，而是将重点放在收入分配极端的社区，这些社区的特点是集中的贫困或富裕。这留下了许多假设，但很少有经验证据，关于经济多样化社区的社会动态。本研究采用混合方法研究设计，研究邻里经济多样性是否以及如何影响邻里生活的心理，人际，组织和空间维度。具体而言，研究是否在他们对邻居的态度，他们的邻里参与的水平和内容，以及他们的看法和使用邻里空间的经济多元化和同质化的社区居民不同。在社区层面，研究着眼于经济多元化和同质化的社区是否在机构和组织多样性方面有所不同，以及这些组织和其他社区空间的使用是否存在跨阶级重叠。最后，研究探讨了经济多样化社区的社会动态是否因种族多样性而异。 该研究结合了波士顿社区经济状况以及社会和组织特征的多个定量数据来源。然后，它使用定性深入访谈的波士顿居民在四个社区，不同的经济和种族的多样性，以揭示如何在定量分析中观察到的协会体现在居民？日常生活和辨别为什么居民说他们的行为方式，他们这样做。本论文的研究作出了一些贡献，社会学知识，公共政策，和当地社区的福利。 它将人们的注意力从传统的高度贫困社区转移到更广泛的社区内收入分配的研究上。这就为社区经济和种族背景如何影响个人和集体福祉的新的理论见解和实证发现创造了可能性。通过识别限制或加强跨阶级关系发展的地方实践和组织特征，本项目可能会提出支持社区成功经济整合的政策。该研究还谈到了目前在美国各地发生的大规模混合收入重建项目，记录了创建和维护这些社区的斗争，并详细说明了我们可能合理地期望通过混合收入发展来分散贫困的努力。

SES-0928252Christopher JencksLaura TachHarvard UniversityResidential economic segregation is modest relative to racial segregation in most U.S. metropolitan areas, which implies that there are many economically diverse neighborhoods. Researchers have not seriously investigated this economic diversity within neighborhoods, however, focusing instead on neighborhoods at the extremes of the income distribution characterized by concentrated poverty or affluence. This leaves many assumptions, but little empirical evidence, about the social dynamics within economically diverse neighborhoods. The study uses a mixed-method research design to study whether and how neighborhood economic diversity influences the psychological, interpersonal, organizational, and spatial dimensions of neighborhood life. Specifically, the research studies whether residents of economically diverse and homogenous neighborhoods differ in their attitudes towards their neighbors, the level and content of their neighborhood engagement, and their perceptions and use of neighborhood space. At the community level, the research looks at whether economically diverse and homogenous neighborhoods differ in their institutional and organizational diversity and whether there is cross-class overlap in the use of these organizations and other neighborhood spaces. Finally, the research examine whether the social dynamics of economically diverse neighborhoods vary based on their racial diversity. The research combines multiple sources of quantitative data on the economic conditions and the social and organizational features of Boston neighborhoods. It then uses qualitative in-depth interviews of Boston residents in four neighborhoods that vary in their economic and racial diversity to uncover how the associations observed in the quantitative analyses manifest themselves in residents? daily lives and discern why residents say they act in the manner that they do.This dissertation research makes several contributions to sociological knowledge, public policy, and the welfare of local communities. It shifts attention away from the traditional focus on high poverty neighborhoods and toward a broader examination of the income distribution within neighborhoods. This creates possibilities for new theoretical insights and empirical findings on how neighborhood economic and racial contexts affect individual and collective wellbeing. By identifying local practices and organizational features that limit or enhance the development of cross-class ties, this project may suggest policies that could support the successful economic integration of neighborhoods. The research also speaks to the large-scale mixed-income redevelopment projects currently taking place across America by documenting the struggles involved in creating and maintaining such communities and detailing what we might reasonably expect from efforts to disperse poverty through mixed-income development.