Blog Response #5

• What is Collective Efficacy Theory (CET) as Sampson and colleagues define it? What is the evidence that you found in the international (or non-Chicago at least) study that you read? And how would you answer the questions that Sampson gave his respondents, asking about what they thought their neighbors would do in various situations, only with respect to your own neighborhood?

• Sampson lists the importance of two things as part of the concept of his Collective Efficacy Theory. The first thing that is key is the concept of "social cohesion" and the second key part is the "shared expectations for control." Social cohesion refers to the ability of a group to work together either effectively or ineffectively, and how that contributes to collective efficacy. Shared expectations for control outline the length to which the neighborhood or community is able to share the same expectations and goals with which they will build a stronger community.
• He goes through to list other integral factors such as: the capacity of residents to exercise control, social life distinguished by personal ties through networking, and the importance of mutual trust and social cohesion. Key things that influence collective efficacy seem to be things such as socioeconomic status, immigration, residential tenure, and instability. The whole purpose of the study is to pinpoint which of these factors contribute to high crime and poverty rates in a certain area. In a study done by PHDCN, the researchers attempted to determine the negative effects on a neighborhood that could be linked to collective efficacy. The research found that collective efficacy did have certain applications to their study on street crime, but also were able to link it to other health-related dimensions such as asthma, birth weight, self-rated health, and heat-wave deaths.
• Studies done outside of Chicago in the city of Stockholm found that the researchers were correct in determining correlations between collective efficacy and other predictions of violence. In a graph included on page 165, there is a high similarity between the cities of Stockholm and Chicago in their prediction of violence and its relationship to collective efficacy. All of this being said, Sampson comes to the conclusion that, "collective efficacy is relatively stable over time and that it predicts future variations in crime" (177-8). Taking the study beyond the cities of Chicago and Stockholm, researchers such as Mazerolle, Wickes, and McBroom (2010) found that they were also able to predict crime rates using the Collective Efficacy Theory and using it in an Australian context. They were able to find that "collective efficacy is a significant mechanism in explaining the spatial distribution of self-reported violent victimization," including Brisbane as just one more example that collective efficacy is cross-cultural. The information done in this research as well as many other studies attempts to further prove that collective efficacy is a viable theory in determining violence and crime. Community Variations in Violence: The Role of Social Ties and Collective Efficacy in Comparative Context, Lorraine Mazerolle, Rebecca Wickes, and James McBroom.
• In relation to my own neighborhood, I have been very blessed to grow up in a small town where there was very little crime. Up until a few years ago, we hardly had any neighbors and most of the crime in the city of Ivins, Utah could be traced to a few of the same areas (interestingly enough, also areas with the highest percentage of immigrants). As a response to the questions that Sampson poses, if children were skipping school and hanging out on the street corner, I feel like my neighbors would intervene. If children were seen spray painting graffiti on a local building, I feel like my neighbors would intervene. If children were seen showing disrespect to an adult within the community, I feel like they would intervene depending on the situation. If a fight broke out in front of one of my neighbors houses, I feel like they would intervene and take the appropriate action. If the fire station closest to home was threatened by budget cuts, I don't think they would intervene or raise funds/support. Most of the dialogue relating to trust, helpfulness, graffiti, fighting, and violence simply aren't applicable in the area that I grew up in. In contrast to my hometown, I was able to live in California for 2 years, and was able to experience some of the higher rates of crime and violence in the country and have been able to get an interesting view of the two different ways of life. While I haven't known much about collective efficacy before this study of Sampson and his literature, it is interesting to look back and think of these questions that he poses and see a definite correlation between those areas of high and low violence, crime, abuse, and poverty.