Doctoral Dissertation Research: Community Participation in Neighborhood Organizations: An Investigation of Local Participation in Two Inner City Neighborhoods

社区对邻里组织的参与：内城两个邻里社区的地方参与调查本研究将考察两个相邻的不同参与率的城市贫困社区对邻里组织的参与。这两个社区都在阿拉巴马州的伯明翰。本研究的目的是找出导致城市贫困社区居民参与志愿社区活动的因素和条件，以及抑制他们参与的因素和条件。先前的研究发现，自20世纪60年代以来，城市贫困黑人的群体成员和社区活动参与度急剧下降。对这一下降的解释集中在这些社区的社会资本损失上。然而，有几个问题仍然没有得到解决。本研究将解决其中的两个问题：(1)为什么一个城市贫困社区的参与率相对较高，而类似的城市贫困社区的参与率较低？(2)为什么这些社区中的一些人参与，而另一些人不参与？通过整合社会运动和社会资本文献中的理论，开发了一个在多个层面上运作的概念框架来解释邻里参与。这项研究没有像大多数现有研究那样试图将邻里参与解释为个人、组织或邻里特征的功能，而是调查了所有三个层面(个人、组织和邻里)的因素如何共同作用来塑造参与。将在12个月内观察伯明翰两个社区的居民参与社区协会的情况。将对这两个社区的60名随机抽样居民进行深入访谈，同时还将采访每个社区组织的领导人。本研究将推进社区参与激活与维持的文献研究现状。目前，社会运动文献提供了集体行动为什么以及如何发生的解释，而社会资本文献则解释了参与和网络联系之间的关系的潜在因素。然而，这两篇文献都没有试图解释生活在弱势社区的个人是如何被激励参与当地社区参与的，或者他们是如何被阻止这样做的。这项研究将以各种方式产生更广泛的影响。例如，通过识别导致城市贫困社区居民参与或不参与社区活动的因素和条件，政策制定者和社区活动家可以更充分地了解如何提高社区参与。城市政府可以利用这项研究，与城市贫困社区的社区领导人和组织建立更有效的联盟。而居民本身也可以在自己的社区内获得参与的机会，这应该允许更高质量的生活。大多数美国城市都存在经济困难的社区，更大的社区并不能很好地理解这些社区。这些社区往往被视为危险的地方，居住着危险的和/或冷漠的居民。这项研究的结果可以扩大我们对贫困社区和这些社区居民的了解，从而做出重要的社会贡献。

Community Participation in Neighborhood Organizations: An Investigation of Local Participation in Two Inner City NeighborhoodsThis research will examine participation in neighborhood associations in two adjacent urban poor neighborhoods with different rates of participation. Both neighborhoods are in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the research is to identify those factors and conditions that lead residents of urban poor neighborhoods to participate in voluntary community activities and those that inhibit their participation. Previous research finds that group membership and participation in community-based activities among urban poor blacks has dropped precipitously since the 1960s. Explanations for this decline have centered on a loss of social capital in these neighborhoods. Yet, several questions remain unresolved. This research is will address two of these questions: (1) Why does one urban poor community have a relatively high rate of participation, while a similar urban poor community has a low rate of participation? (2) Why do some individuals in these communities participate while others do not? Through an integration of theories from the social movement and social capital literatures, a conceptual framework is developed that operates at multiple levels to explain participation in neighborhoods. Rather than attempting to explain neighborhood participation as a function of individual, organizational, or neighborhood characteristics as most existing studies do, this study investigates how factors at all three levels (individual, organizational and neighborhood) work together to shape participation. Observation of resident participation in neighborhood associations in the two Birmingham neighborhoods will occur over a 12 month period. In-depth interviews with a random sample of 60 residents from the two neighborhoods will be conducted, along with interviews of leaders of each neighborhood organization. This research will advance the current state of the literature on the activation and maintenance of community participation. Currently, the social movement literature provides explanations of why and how collective action occurs, while the social capital literature provides explanations of the underlying factors that account for the relationship between participation and network ties. Neither of these literatures, however, has attempted to provide an explanation of how individuals living in disadvantaged neighborhoods are motivated to engage in neighborhood participation at the local level or how they are inhibited from doing so. The research will have broader impacts in a variety of ways. For instance, by identifying the factors and conditions that lead residents of urban, poor neighborhoods to participate in community activities or not to participate, policy makers and community activists can understand more fully how neighborhood participation can be enhanced. City governments can use this research to create more effective alliances with community leaders and organizations in urban poor neighborhoods. And residents themselves may be provided with opportunities for participation within their own neighborhoods that should allow for a higher quality of life. Economically disadvantaged neighborhoods exist in most American cities and are not well understood by the larger community. These neighborhoods tend to be viewed as dangerous places inhabited by dangerous and/or apathetic residents. Results from this study can expand our understanding of poor neighborhoods and the residents of these neighborhoods, thereby making an important societal contribution.