Making Informal Social Control Happen: Empirical Findings on Collective Efficacy

2019 ◽  
pp. 99-124
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Leon
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Informal Social Control

Perceptions of Collective Efficacy Among Single Mothers: Insights for Conceptualization and Measurement

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (17) ◽  
pp. 4019-4040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Barnhart ◽  
Michael C. Gearhart ◽  
Kathryn Maguire-Jack
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Teen Pregnancy ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Single Mother ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Family Outcomes ◽  
Study Results

Neighborhoods with higher levels of collective efficacy are associated with more favorable family outcomes such as lower teen pregnancy rates and less antisocial behavior among children. Collective efficacy is traditionally measured by combining the constructs of social cohesion and informal social control, yet these two constructs may have unique influences on family outcomes. While prior studies have examined collective efficacy’s factor structure, there is limited understanding of this construct among single-mother families, who have unique social and economic characteristics. In this exploratory study, we tested a single-factor model and two-factor model separating social cohesion and informal social control to examine the underlying factor structure of collective efficacy with a diverse sample of 2,084 unmarried mothers who participated in the third wave in-home survey of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. Results support that informal social control and social cohesion were best modeled as two distinct, but related, constructs.

scholarly journals Neighbourhood land use features, collective efficacy and local civic actions

Urban Studies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 2372-2390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Corcoran ◽  
Renee Zahnow ◽  
Rebecca Wickes ◽  
John Hipp
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Civic Action ◽  
New Classification ◽  
Demographic Context

This paper explores the association between neighbourhood land use features and informal social control. More specifically, we examine the extent to which such features in combination with the socio-demographic context of the neighbourhood facilitate or impede collective efficacy and local civic actions. We achieve this through spatially integrating data from the census, topographic databases and a 2012 survey of 4132 residents from 148 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, Australia. The study creates a new classification of a neighbourhood’s physical environment by creating novel categories of land use features that depict social conduits, social holes and social wedges. Social conduits are features of the neighbourhood that facilitate interaction between individuals, social holes are land uses that create situations where there is no occupancy, and social wedges are features that carve up neighbourhoods. We find some evidence to suggest that residents’ reports of collective efficacy are higher in neighbourhoods with a greater density of social conduits. Density of social conduits is also positively associated with local civic action. However, in neighbourhoods with more greenspace, residents are less likely to engage in local civic actions.

scholarly journals Disagreement in Assessing Neighboring and Collective Efficacy: The Role of Social Distance

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 237802311876953 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Hipp ◽  
Seth A. Williams ◽  
Adam Boessen
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Error ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
General Measure ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Whereas existing research typically treats variability in residents’ reports of collective efficacy and neighboring as measurement error, the authors consider such variability as of substantive interest in itself. This variability may indicate disagreement among residents with implications for the neighborhood collectivity. The authors propose using a general measure of social distance based on several social dimensions (rather than measures based on a single dimension such as racial/ethnic heterogeneity or income inequality) to help understand this variability in assessments. The authors use data from wave I (2001) of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey ( n = 3,570) to aggregate respondents into egohoods of two different sizes: quarter-mile and half-mile radii. Consistent with expectations, neighborhoods with higher levels of general social distance have higher variability in reports of neighboring and the two components of collective efficacy, cohesion and informal social control.

scholarly journals Measuring Collective Efficacy

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross L. Matsueda ◽  
Kevin M. Drakulich
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Survey Response ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Informal Control ◽  
Measurement Models ◽  
Level Model

This article specifies a multilevel measurement model for survey response when data are nested. The model includes a test–retest model of reliability, a confirmatory factor model of interitem reliability with item-specific bias effects, an individual-level model of the biasing effects due to respondent characteristics, and a neighborhood-level model of construct validity. We apply this model for measuring informal social control within collective efficacy theory. Estimating the model on 3,260 respondents nested within 123 Seattle neighborhoods, we find that measures of informal control show reasonable test–retest and interitem reliability. We find support for the hypothesis that respondents’ assessments of whether their neighbors would intervene in specific child deviant acts are related to whether they have observed such acts in the past, which is consistent with a cognitive model of survey response. Finally, we find that, when proper measurement models are not used, the effects of some neighborhood covariates on informal control are biased upward and the effect of informal social control on violence is biased downward.

scholarly journals Broken Windows, Informal Social Control, and Crime: Assessing Causality in Empirical Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles C. Lanfear ◽  
Ross L. Matsueda ◽  
Lindsey R. Beach
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Broken Windows ◽  
Neighborhood Disorder ◽  
Made In ◽  
Control Theories

An important criminological controversy concerns the proper causal relationships between disorder, informal social control, and crime. The broken windows thesis posits that neighborhood disorder increases crime directly and indirectly by undermining neighborhood informal social control. Theories of collective efficacy argue that the association between neighborhood disorder and crime is spurious because of the confounding variable informal social control. We review the recent empirical research on this question, which uses disparate methods, including field experiments and different models for observational data. To evaluate the causal claims made in these studies, we use a potential outcomes framework of causality. We conclude that, although there is some evidence for both broken windows and informal control theories, there is little consensus in the present research literature. Furthermore, at present, most studies do not establish causality in a strong way.

Violent Victimization in Poor Neighborhoods of Bogotá, Lima, and Santiago

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Manzano ◽  
Alejandra Mohor ◽  
Williams Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Informal Social Control ◽  
Violent Victimization ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Victimization Risk ◽  
Mediating Factors ◽  
Random Survey

This chapter tests the collective efficacy theory by examining the influence of household and neighborhood vulnerability, as well as organizational and community mechanisms, on the victimization risk for violent crime in poor neighborhoods of Bogotá (Colombia), Lima (Peru), and Santiago (Chile.) To test the theory, the authors apply a random “Survey on Violence in Neighborhoods” in each of the cities. They confirmed that structural factors such as social vulnerability increase the risk of violent victimization, whereas neighborhood attachment and social cohesion are mediating factors that are key to decreasing said risks. However, the influence of neighborhood residential stability and informal social control has not been verified, and, hence, the collective efficacy theory cannot be confirmed for the neighborhoods included in this study.

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