Collective Efficacy: A Key Element of Safe and Healthy Communities

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Collective Efficacy A Key Element of Safe and
Healthy Communities
Dr. Beth E. Molnar Assistant Professor Society,
Human Development Health Harvard School of
Public Health
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Overview

• Collective Efficacy
• Project on Human Development in Chicago
  Neighborhoods (PHDCN)
• Results
• Parent-to-child physical aggression
• Physical activity
• Gun carrying
• Examples of Community Building

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Collective Efficacy for Children

• The shared expectations and mutual engagement by
  adults in the active support and social control
  of children (Sampson et al. 1999)
• Maintenance of intergenerational ties
• Reciprocal exchange of information and services
  among families
• Shared willingness to intervene on behalf of
  children

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Project on Human Development in Chicago
Neighborhoods
Scientific Directors Stephen Raudenbush Robert
J. Sampson Jeanne Brooks-Gunn Senior
Scientists Robert T. Brennan Margaret
Burchinal Maya Carlson Dan Kindlon Associate
Scientists Y.F. Cheong Tama Levanthal Enrico
Mezzacappa Beth E. Molnar Jeffrey Morenoff Dawn
Obeidallah Sean Reardon Janet Rich-Edward Mary
Beth Selner OHagan
Principal Investigator Felton Earls Co-Principal
Investigator Stephen L. Buka
Sponsors John D. Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation National Institute of Justice
(NIJ) National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) National Institute for Early Child
Development and Education (NIECDE) The Turner
Foundation Child Care Bureau/Head Start Bureau of
the Administration for Children, Youth
Families (ACYF)
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The Project on Human Development in Chicago
Neighborhoods

• Community Design
• Neighborhood Residents Survey
• Systematic Social Observation
• Neighborhood Experts Survey
• Longitudinal Design
• Study of families with children in 7 age cohorts
• Administrative Records
• Ethnographic/Qualitative Studies

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Racial/Ethnic Composition by SES Strata
Distribution of Chicago Neighborhood Clusters
Black numbers represent all of Chicago red
numbers in parentheses represent the 80
neighborhood clusters that were sampled for this
study
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Measuring Collective Efficacy

• Informal Social Control - the likelihood that
  neighbors can be counted on to intervene in
  various ways if
• Children were skipping school and hanging out on
  street corners
• Children were spray-painting graffiti
• Children were disrespecting adults
• Fights broke out in front of their homes
• The fire station were threatened to be de-funded

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Measuring Collective Efficacy

• Social Cohesion and Trust
• People are willing to help
• Close-knit neighborhood
• People can be trusted
• People get along with each other
• People share the same values

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Measuring Collective Efficacy

• Collective Efficacy
• Informal Social Control
• Social Cohesion and Trust

Research Question Does it mediate the
association between social disadvantage and
violence?
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Collective Efficacy Results
Sampson RJ, Raudenbush SW, Earls F.
Neighborhoods and violent crime A multilevel
study of collective efficacy. Science, 1997
227 918-924.
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A Multilevel Study of Neighborhoods and
Parent-to-Child Physical Aggression

• Beth E. Molnar
• Stephen L. Buka
• Robert T. Brennan
• John K. Holton
• Felton Earls

Molnar BE, Buka SL, Brennan RT, Holton JK, Earls
F (2003). A multilevel study of neighborhoods
and parent-to-child physical aggression Results
from the Project on Human Development in Chicago
Neighborhoods. Child Maltreatment, Vol. 8(2)
84-97.
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Mean Scores of Parent-to-Child Physical
Aggression by Concentrated Disadvantage of
Neighborhood
n1162
Mean PCPA Score
n1102
n1259
n803
Neighborhood Status
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Mean Scores of Parent-to-Child Physical
Aggression by 1995 Homicide Rate of Neighborhood
Cluster
n1111
n1133
Mean PCPA Score
n2082
1995 Neighborhood Homicide Rate
Representing 40 neighborhoods that had zero
homicides in 1995
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Neighborhood Context and Youth Participation in
Physical Activity in Chicago
Beth E. Molnar Steven L. Gortmaker Fiona C.
Bull Stephen Buka

• Angie Cradock
• Ichiro Kawachi
• Graham Colditz

Molnar BE, Gortmaker SL, Bull FC, Buka SL (2004).
Unsafe to play? Neighborhood Disorder and lack
of safety predict reduced physical activity among
urban children and adolescents. American Journal
of Health Promotion, in press Vol. 18 (5).
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Hypothesized Influences of Neighborhoods on Youth
Physical Activity
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Objectives

• To examine whether
• Unsafe Neighborhoods
• Social Disorder
• Neighborhood Social Cohesion
• were associated with general physical activity,
  independent of individual characteristics

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Outcome Measures

• Hours per week participation in school-based and
  community-based recreation (Mean 2.7 hours/wk,
  42 any participation)
• How often do you actively participate in sports,
  athletics or exercising?
• (1) never
• (2) a few times a year
• (3) once or twice a month
• (4) at least once a week
• (5) almost everyday
• No participation (1) never or (2) a few times
  a year 30

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Neighborhood Measures

• Unsafe to Play
• Example Adults watch out for kids safe
  playgrounds other places to play besides street
• Social Disorder
• Example Presence/absence of adults loitering or
  congregating alcohol drinking in public groups
  with gang indicators adults fighting drug
  sales prostitution
• Social Cohesion

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Recreational Physical Activity by Lack of
Neighborhood Safety for Children to Play
Mean Hours of Recreational Physical Activity per
Week
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Recreational Physical Activity by Neighborhood
Social Disorder
Mean Hours of Recreational Physical Activity per
Week
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Recreational Physical Activity by Neighborhood
Social Cohesion
Mean Hours of Recreational Physical Activity per
Week
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Neighborhood Predictors of Concealed Firearm
Carrying Among Children and Adolescents

• Beth E. Molnar
• Matt J. Miller
• Deborah Azrael
• Stephen L. Buka

Molnar BE, Miller MJ, Azrael D, Buka SL.
Neighborhood predictors of concealed firearm
carrying among children and adolescents Results
from the Project on Human Development in Chicago
Neighborhoods. Archives of Pediatrics
Adolescent Medicine (in press).
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Gun Carrying by Lack of Neighborhood Safety for
Children to Play
Gun Carrying ()
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Gun Carrying by Neighborhood Collective Efficacy
Gun Carrying ()
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Community Partnerships / Comprehensive Community
Initiatives (CCI)

• Project CHASE in Moshi, Tanzania
• Inspired by collective efficacy findings
• Randomized control trial
• Focused on communities severely affected by
  HIV/AIDS
• Includes training of child peer educators and
  administrators

http/www.hms.harvard.edu/chase/projects/tanzania
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Community Partnerships / Comprehensive Community
Initiatives (CCI)

• Program for New York Neighborhoods of the Edna
  McConnell Clark Foundation
• Two key principles of its Neighborhood Partners
  Initiative Build on a communitys assets and
  respond to its specific challenges
• A few examples
• Sponsoring community social events block
  parties, neighborhood clean-up, cultural nights,
  field trips for children
• Providing assistance with entitlements,
  revitalizing vacant lots, renovating parks,
  organizing tenant associations, job training
• Supplying community groups with meeting space,
  flyers, materials for clean-up efforts, workshops
  on tenants rights