Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Article 1: Johansen, R., Neal, Z., Gasteyer, S. (2014). The view from a broken window: How residents make sense of neighbourhood disorder in Flint Urban Stud December 2015 vol. 52 no. 16 3054-3069.

Abstract: 

This paper explores how members of a neighbourhood association in a post-industrial blighted community in Flint, Michigan are working to reduce disorder conditions in their neighbourhood. We seek to understand how members are impacted by disorder, what they perceive to be the cause of disorder, and how they respond to disorder conditions. We argue that a disordered physical environment characterised by abandoned buildings and neglected properties is viewed by association members as giving rise to fear and incidences of crime and the impression of the loss of social control by formal authorities. As a result, association members focus their attention on interventions specifically geared toward controlling environmental factors such as neighbourhood greenspace. Our findings suggest that residents are deeply and negatively impacted by the presence of disorder, and that they view such neighbourhood greening initiatives as an effective way to mobilise neighbourhood residents against disorder-producing conditions.

Summary: 

Using field observations and interviews, the authors seek to understand how a Flint neighborhood is impacted by disorder and how the neighborhood association seeks to correct it.

Questions to Consider: 

1. What are some of the direct and indirect ways disorder can be produced by the environment?
    
2. Explain the concept of “pacification by cappuccino” approach.
    
3. Discuss the twofold value of landscape management.
    
4. Identify the reasons that neighborhood organizations focus on repairing disorder in their communities.
    

Article 2: Petrosino, C., Pace, J. (2015). Social cohesion, collective efficacy and the response of a Cape Verdean Community to hate crime: Learning a new reality American Behavioral Scientist November 2015 vol. 59 no. 13 1681-169.

Abstract: 

How a neighborhood responds to a hate crime is important for combatting these wrongdoings. Since these acts are often proxies for power dynamics involving the “superior” perpetrator controlling the “inferior” victim, effective responses from the victim’s community are essential. However, these same communities, especially poor minority ones, are often socially disorganized and find it challenging to address the complex problems that stem from poverty. This exploratory study observes how a Cape Verdean community in the Northeast responded to racially motivated hate crimes that occurred there. Using the theoretical framework of social disorganization theory, social cohesion, and collective efficacy, the central questions asked in this study are the following: How did this community respond to these crimes? To what extent did social cohesion and collective efficacy shape its response? Interviews of community leaders were conducted to answer these questions. Results indicate that despite social cohesion on some levels, the lack of collective efficacy prevented the Cape Verdean community from articulating and implementing a strong response to these hate crimes. 

Summary: 

This essay discusses hate crimes that occurred in Wildeburn, which is identified as a small city located 20 miles south of a major northeastern city. A number of these crimes were committed against people from the Republic of Cape Verde. Cape Verdean’s have a mixed heritage of African and Portuguese. The authors use social disorganization theory, social cohesion, and collective efficacy to understand and explain how the Cape Verdean community responded to these crimes.

Questions to Consider:

1. According to the article, what is one of the primary ways minorities are protected from discrimination?
    
2. Why do you think that it took so long for the Cape Verdean community to view the crimes that had been committed as hate crimes?
    
3. What is the importance of leadership in a minority community?
    

Article 3: Perrone, D., Sullivan, C.J., Pratt, T.C., Margaryan, S. (2004) Parental Efficacy, Self-Control, and Delinquency: A test of a general theory of crime on a nationally representative sample of youth International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative  Criminology June 2004 vol. 48 no. 3 298-312.

Abstract: 

Criminologists have recently begun examining Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) proposition that parenting is the primary influence on children’s levels of self-control. The few existing studies on the subject, however, have typically been based on small, nonrandom samples. The current study examines the relationships between parental efficacy, self-control, and delinquent behavior using data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health). The results indicate that although parental efficacy is an important precursor to self-control, contrary to Gottfredson and Hirschi’s proposition, self-control does not completely mediate the relationship between parental efficacy and delinquency. The implications for future research and theoretical development are discussed.

Summary: 

Studies have shown that there is a link between self-control, crime and deviance. Gottfredson and Hirschi posit that parents that do not monitor their children’s behavior and do not punish deviance will raise children with low self-control and exhibit more deviant behavior.

Questions to Consider:

1. Parental efficacy is a parent’s belief in their effectiveness as a parent. What methods are used in this study to specifically overcome the short comings of previous studies?
    
2. In addition to parental efficacy, what are some of the other predictors of self-control in youth?
    
3. What did this research discover as the relationship between race, parental efficacy, and self-control?