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作者

来源

JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS,Vol.41,Issue8,P.1183-1204

语言

英文

关键字

作者单位

Georgia State University

摘要

Neighborhood organizations are important aspects of the urban landscape that are increasingly being studied in relationship to crime. However, the neighborhood mechanisms through which organizations are hypothesized to affect crime have rarely been examined. Rooted in social disorganization theory, this study examines the effects of churches—a common and important neighborhood organization—on neighborhood social processes related to crime prevention (i.e., informal social control, social ties, conventional values). These processes are measured with survey data from approximately 2,300 residents in 66 neighborhoods. Several measures for churches are examined in relation to these social processes using multilevel modeling. Data come from several sources, including survey data previously collected for a National Institute of Justice–funded study, the U.S. Census Bureau, and Polk City Directories. Findings show that churches have significant effects on the processes examined; however, the type of church measure used impacts these findings. The total number of churches in the neighborhood and within a buffer zone around the neighborhood, Mainline Protestant, community-oriented (“Bridging”), and Evangelical Protestant churches had significant (or marginally significant) effects on at least one processes examined, although some of these effects were only in disadvantaged neighborhoods.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Institute of Justice (1999-IJ-CX-0052).Notes on contributorsBarbara D. WarnerBarbara D. Warner is Professor Emerita in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University. Her research addresses questions of how both neighborhood culture and neighborhood structure affect the capacity for neighborhood informal social control as well as residents’ responses to attempts at informal social control.Rebecca Headley KonkelRebecca Headley Konkel is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her research focuses on the effects of neighborhood context on parolees, crime, and a variety of social outcomes. Additionally, she conducts research at the neighborhood level on neighborhood institutions that are theoretically relevant to offending and deviance.