Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Social Consequences of Neighborhood Economic Diversity

christopher JencksLaura tach哈佛大学相对于美国大多数大都市地区的种族隔离而言，住宅经济隔离是适度的，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调查社区内的这种经济多样性，而是把重点放在收入分配极端的社区上，这些社区以集中的贫困或富裕为特征。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，本研究研究了经济多元化和同质化社区的居民对邻居的态度、邻里参与的水平和内容、邻里空间的感知和利用是否存在差异。在社区层面，研究着眼于经济多样化和同质化的社区在制度和组织多样性方面是否存在差异，以及这些组织和其他社区空间的使用是否存在跨阶层重叠。最后，该研究考察了经济多样化社区的社会动态是否会因其种族多样性而变化。这项研究结合了多种来源的定量数据，包括波士顿社区的经济状况、社会和组织特征。然后，它使用定性的深度访谈波士顿居民在四个社区不同的经济和种族多样性，以揭示在定量分析中观察到的关联如何体现在居民身上？日常生活和辨别为什么居民说他们的行为方式。本论文的研究在社会学知识、公共政策和地方社区福利方面做出了若干贡献。它将人们的注意力从传统上对高度贫困社区的关注转移到了对社区内收入分配的更广泛的研究上。这为社区经济和种族背景如何影响个人和集体福祉的新理论见解和实证发现创造了可能性。通过识别限制或促进跨阶层联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经济一体化成功的政策建议。该研究还通过记录创建和维护这些社区所涉及的斗争，并详细说明了我们可以合理地期望通过混合收入发展来分散贫困的努力，从而谈到了目前在美国各地进行的大规模混合收入再开发项目。

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.