Doctoral Dissertation Research: Effects of External Threats on Community Cohesion

这个项目考察了困难环境对个人及其社区的影响。在最近困难增加的情况下，这项研究着眼于1)个人及其群体面临的心理健康挑战；2)社区如何理解自己及其在美国更大社会结构中的位置；以及(3)社区内个人和群体相互支持的承诺，包括社会团结和集体行动保护弱势成员的机会。调查结果将有助于了解政策及其执行的间接影响，从而对政策制定者以及试图影响政策的组织和受影响社区本身都是有用的。将收集关于社区成员的做法和关系以及法律和执法威胁在多大程度上影响他们的社会、经济和心理健康的定性数据。主要的方法程序是通过长期的人种学观察和经常重复的与主要告密者和社区成员的面谈，对社区成员群体进行个案研究。结果将有助于从理论上理解社区社会团结是如何产生的；外部过程如何影响个人和群体的福祉；以及这些外部过程的影响如何通过社区特征和过程来修改。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project examines effects of a difficult environment on individuals and their community. In a situation in which hardships have increased recently, this study looks at the effects on 1) mental health challenges for individuals and their groups; 2) how the community understands itself and its place within the larger social structure of the United States; and (3) commitments of individuals and groups within the community to support each other, including opportunities for social solidarity and collective action in defense of vulnerable members. Findings will contribute to the understanding of the indirect effects of policies and their enforcement, and thus will be useful to policymakers as well as to organizations seeking to influence policy and to the affected communities themselves. Qualitative data will be collected on the practices and relationships of members of the community and on the extent to which legal and enforcement threats shape their social, economic and psychological well-being. The main methodological procedure is the construction of case studies of groups of community members through long-term ethnographic observation and interviews, often repeated, with key informants and community members. Results will contribute to the theoretical understanding of how social solidarity in communities is generated; how external processes condition the well-being of individuals and groups; and how the effects of these external processes may be modified through community characteristics and processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.