scholarly journals Relational Diversity and Neighbourhood Cohesion. Unpacking Variety, Balance and In-Group Size

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruud Koopmans ◽  
Merlin Schaeffer
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Group Threat ◽  
Entropy Measures ◽  
Asymmetric Preferences ◽  
Group Diversity ◽  
Diversity Effects

Ethnic diversity is typically measured by the well-known Hirschman-Herfindahl Index. This paper discusses the merits of an alternative approach, which is in our view better suited to tease out why and how ethnic diversity matters. The approach consists of two elements. First, all existing diversity indices are non-relational. From the viewpoint of theoretical accounts that attribute negative diversity effects to in-group favoritism and out-group threat, it should however matter whether, given a certain level of overall diversity, an individual belongs to a minority group or to the dominant majority. We therefore decompose diversity by distinguishing the in-group share from the diversity of ethnic out-groups. Second, we show how generalized entropy measures can be used to test which of diversity’s two basic dimensions matters most: the variety of groups, or the unequal distribution (balance) of the population over groups. These measures allow us to test different theoretical explanations against each other, because they imply different expectations regarding the effects of in-group size, out-group variety, and balance. We apply these ideas in an analysis of various social cohesion measures across 55 German localities and show that both in-group size and out-group diversity matter. For the native majority as well as for persons of immigration background, the variety component of diversity seems to be more decisive than has formerly been acknowledged. These findings provide little support for group threat and in-group favoritism as the decisive mechanisms behind negative diversity effects, and are most in line with the predictions of theories that emphasize coordination problems, asymmetric preferences, and network closure.

scholarly journals Estimating Diversity Effects in the Neighborhood: On the Role of Ethnic Diversity and Out-group Size and their Associations with Neighborhood Cohesion and Fear of Crime

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Glas ◽  
Roel Jennissen ◽  
Godfried Engbersen
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Ethnic Composition ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Neighborhood Cohesion ◽  
Diversity Effect ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Diversity Effects

AbstractThis study considers and simultaneously tests the role of ethnic diversity and out-group size in relation to individuals’ perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and fear of crime among natives in Dutch neighborhoods. We challenge the way the impact of diversity has been studied previously and propose an alternative measure to examine diversity effects. This results in a better understanding of how and why the ethnic composition of a neighborhood may impact levels of cohesion and fear, and thereby contributes to the literature on the societal effects of ethnic diversity. In addition, attention is paid to the association between cohesion and fear and whether neighborhood cohesion mediates the relationship between ethnic diversity and fear of crime. We apply multilevel equation modeling techniques to analyze the different relationships and use data of the Dutch Safety Monitor (N = 71,760) in combination with detailed register data. Our study is one of the first to detect a diversity effect on cohesion based on the modified diversity measure. We do not find support for the hypothesized diversity effect on fear of crime. Lastly, out-group size turned out to decrease cohesion and increase fear.

Youthful victimization in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina: A multi-level analysis of a national sample

2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082098882
Author(s):  
Carter Rees ◽  
L Thomas Winfree
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Group Threat ◽  
Peace Accord ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Post War ◽  
Threat Theory

Intra-national conflicts with racial or ethnic elements can complicate post-war reconciliation. From 1992 to 1995, much of the former Yugoslavia, a nation largely drawn from three distinct ethnic groups, was embroiled in such a conflict. After the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord, it was feared that schools would become a surrogate battlefield for school-aged children within the newly created nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Group threat theory and the imbalance of power thesis provide differing views on such conflicts. Group threat theory posits that as a population – in this case a school – approaches maximum ethnic diversity, the residents – in this case the students – will feel increasingly threatened, resulting in higher cross-group victimizations. The imbalance of power thesis suggests that a group’s decision to victimize another group depends on the relative lack of ethnic diversity: The extent to which one ethnic group dominates a school, the likelihood of victimization of any smaller groups increases. We explore which of these two theories best explains victimization levels within a sample of 2003 school-aged BiH adolescents born in areas dominated by Muslim Bosnians, Eastern Orthodox Serbians, or Roman Catholic Croatians. We find that there is an ethnic component to victimizations: students born in Serbia face higher levels of victimization than do their Bosnian-born counterparts under conditions that fit better with group threat theory than the imbalance of power thesis. We speculate about the significance of these findings for national ethnic harmony in BiH.

Latvijas kultūrtelpa (1930–1939) vācbaltiešu pēcteču atmiņās

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-196
Author(s):  
Laila Niedre ◽  
Gunta Ošeniece
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
Soviet Occupation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Project Objectives ◽  
Group Diversity ◽  
Latvian Academy

The purpose of this article is to reveal the Latvian cultural space of the 1930s, how it appears in present-day reminiscences of Baltic Germans, people with German heritage residing in Latvia, or their descendants. The data consists of extended interviews recorded as a part of the Latvian Academy of Culture project “Latvija – Heimatland” (2017–2019). One of the project objectives is to register and explore the reminiscences of this social group. The article analyses the accounts of 22 people residing in Latvia and 14 in Germany. These are accounts of events experienced either by themselves or their family members. It covers a time when the community of Latvians and Germans residing in Latvia was polarised by national interests, and the decade ended with Baltic Germans emigrating, followed by the Soviet occupation of Latvia. The Latvian cultural space of the 1930s is indirectly described by quotes from the respondents that relate to the resettlement in 1939 (Umsiedlung in German). The reminiscences illuminate cultural space components such as social practices, symbols, languages, and their use, traditions, and cuisine. The individual memories of Baltic Germans and their descendants significantly contribute to how the Latvian cultural space of the 1930s is already seen through collective memory, which includes monuments, written work, and art. They outline the lifestyle of this specific minority group, diversity of cultures, and interaction between them in Latvia, as well as a theme of Latvia as the lost motherland.

scholarly journals Effect of Group Size and Individual Characteristics on Intergroup Encounters in Primates

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonaventura Majolo ◽  
Aurora deBortoli Vizioli ◽  
Laura Martínez-Íñigo ◽  
Julia Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
New World Monkeys ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Intergroup Encounters ◽  
Group 2

AbstractIntergroup encounters are common in nonhuman primates and can vary from affiliative to aggressive. We extracted data from the literature to test five different hypotheses: 1) where there are group size differences between opposing groups, whether the larger group is more likely to win an intergroup encounter than the smaller group; 2) whether the likelihood of a group engaging in aggressive intergroup encounters increases with group size; and 3–5) whether dominant, older individuals, and/or males are more likely to participate aggressively in intergroup encounters than subordinate, younger individuals and/or females. Our data set comprised 52 studies on 31 primate species (3 lemur species, 5 New World monkeys, 19 Old World monkeys, and 4 apes). We found that the larger group is more likely to win an encounter against a smaller group than vice versa. We found no significant relationship between group size and propensity to be aggressive during intergroup encounters. We found weak/no support for the effect of age, dominance rank, and sex on the frequency of aggression displayed toward outgroup individuals during intergroup encounters. Species- and population-specific differences in inter- and intragroup competition and in the degree of the unequal distribution of resources across group members may explain why age, dominance rank, and sex are not strong predictors of aggression during intergroup encounters.

scholarly journals Deaf identities in a multicultural setting: The Ugandan context

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony B. Mugeere ◽  
Peter Atekyereza ◽  
Edward K. Kirumira ◽  
Staffan Hojer
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Deaf Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Lower Case ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Using Data

Often located far apart from each other, deaf and hearing impaired persons face a multiplicity of challenges that evolve around isolation, neglect and the deprivation of essential social services that affect their welfare and survival. Although it is evident that the number of persons born with or acquire hearing impairments in later stages of their lives is increasing in many developing countries, there is limited research on this population. The main objective of this article is to explore the identities and experiences of living as a person who is deaf in Uganda. Using data from semi-structured interviews with 42 deaf persons (aged 19–41) and three focus group discussions, the study findings show that beneath the more pragmatic identities documented in the United States and European discourses there is a matrix of ambiguous, often competing and manifold forms in Uganda that are not necessarily based on the deaf and deaf constructions. The results further show that the country’s cultural, religious and ethnic diversity is more of a restraint than an enabler to the aspirations of the deaf community. The study concludes that researchers and policy makers need to be cognisant of the unique issues underlying deaf epistemologies whilst implementing policy and programme initiatives that directly affect them. The upper case ‘D’ in the term deaf is a convention that has been used since the early 1970s to connote a ‘socially constructed visual culture’ or a linguistic, social and cultural minority group who use sign language as primary means of communication and identify with the deaf community, whereas the lower case ‘d’ in deaf refers to ‘the audio logical condition of hearing impairment’. However, in this article the lower case has been used consistently.

Who Controls Criminal Law? Racial Threat and the Adoption of State Sentencing Law, 1975 to 2012

2020 ◽  
pp. 000312242096764
Author(s):  
Scott W. Duxbury
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Public Support ◽  
State Level ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Sentencing Policy

Threat theory argues that states toughen criminal laws to repress the competitive power of large minority groups. Yet, research on threat suffers from a poor understanding of why minority group size contributes to social control and a lack of evidence on whether criminal law is uniquely responsive to the political interests of majority racial groups at all. By compiling a unique state-level dataset on 230 sentencing policy changes during mass incarceration and using data from 257,362 responses to 79 national surveys to construct new state-level measures of racial differences in punitive policy support, I evaluate whether criminal sentencing law is uniquely responsive to white public policy interests. Pooled event history models and mediation analyses support three primary conclusions: (1) states adopted new sentencing policies as a nonlinear response to minority group size, (2) sentencing policies were adopted in response to white public, but not black public, support for punitive crime policy, and (3) minority group size and race-specific homicide victimization both indirectly affect sentencing policy by increasing white public punitive policy support. These findings support key theoretical propositions for the threat explanation of legal change and identify white public policy opinion as a mechanism linking minority group size to variation in criminal law.

Entrepreneurs of the National Past: The Discourse of Ethnic Indigeneity and Indigenous Cultural Writing in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-450
Author(s):  
Yanshuo Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Modern China ◽  
National Narratives ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Reform Era ◽  
Chinese Nation ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article probes a long-overlooked concept in modern China—ethnic indigeneity—to propose new ways of looking at the relationship between the Chinese nation and its multiethnic minority groups. The Western scholarly community has long held that because the Chinese state uses the Marxist-tainted term shaoshu minzu (ethnic minorities) as the official designation for the non-Han people, the concept of indigeneity is irrelevant to understanding China and its ethnic diversity. This article investigates how reform-era China has witnessed the emergence of an indigenous cultural consciousness exhibited by the non-Han people such as the Qiang people from southwest China. The article argues that minority groups like the Qiang are enthusiastic about “enterprising” their ethnic identities by writing minority histories into the foundational myths of a multiethnic, unified China and challenging the historical hierarchy of the “civilized” Han center and its “uncultured” non-Han peripheries. By analyzing locally produced scholarly and touristic discourses, ethnocultural writing, and filming efforts in southwest China, the article proposes that “indigeneity” entails the interactive processes for a minority group to carve out its cultural, economic, and political spaces of creative belonging within the state by conversing with national narratives and contending for the epistemological authority to represent itself in multiethnic China.

The cost of leading diversity: Effects of group diversity on leaders' perceptions.

2004 ◽  
pp. 9-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita C. Mayo ◽  
James R. Meindl ◽  
Juan-Carlos Pastor
Keyword(s):  
The Cost ◽  
Group Diversity ◽  
Diversity Effects
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