Collective Efficacy and Violence in
Selected Miami-Dade Neighborhoods
Preliminary Evidence
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership
Oakland, CA
October 21, 2010
Overview
• Project Background
and Expectations
• Methodology
• Study Areas
• Initial (Curious)
Findings
• Next Steps
Racial /
Ethnic
Segregation
Miami-Dade
County,
Florida
Project Background

Neighborhood violence – youth homicides

Multi-year research – JSS & The Trust

Based on theory of collective efficacy
Linkage of mutual trust and willingness to
intervene for common good without necessity
of strong personal ties
 Address gaps in social disorg/capital theories
 Build on multi-year Project on Human
Development (Chicago)

Miami-Dade
County
Homicides
2004-2008
Project Expectations

Shed new light on youth violence

Establish baseline with spatial analysis

Test theory of collective efficacy

Provide information for resource targeting

Provide analytic support to foster solutions
and guide violence prevention work
Study Methodology

Three components:



Socio-economic risk factors for crime
collected and mapped
Violent hotspots mapped using income and
data on homicides and 911 calls re
aggravated assaults, robberies
Collective efficacy measured by direct
observations and door-to-door surveys
Miami-Dade
County
Violence
Hotspot
Analysis
Miami-Dade
County
Violence
Hotspot
Index
Study Area – Bunche Park
Visual Assessments and
Documentation - CPTED

Study Area – Liberty City
Initial Findings – Survey Measures
• Social Cohesion (11 items):
degree of connectedness to
neighborhoods and each other
– “good area to raise children”
and “people here are generally
friendly”
• Social Control (6 items):
likelihood neighbors would get
involved when government fails to
meet its obligations
– likelihood of neighbor doing
something if “a large pothole on
street needed repair” or “city
planned to cut funding to your
community center”
• Intervene (12 items): extent
neighbors would intervene to
help solve neighborhood
problems
– likelihood of neighbor
intervening if “someone was
trying to break into a house” or
“suspicious people hanging
around the street” or “people
having a loud argument in
street”
• Collective Efficacy (29):
integrates all prior items into a
unified scale representing all 3
dimensions
Initial Findings: Survey
Respondents
Initial Findings
• Across both communities,
Liberty City reported
these variables were
significantly higher levels
significantly related to
of:
collective efficacy:
– social cohesion
•
Directly:
– social control
– Education level
– collective efficacy
– Satisfaction with
as well as lower:
police services
– fear of crime
– Homeownership
– perceived
• Inversely:
incivilities
– Perceived incivilities
than Bunche Park
in neighborhood
Next Steps
Select six more neighborhoods with variety of
characteristics to conduct and compare observations
and surveys

Integrate other data into the analysis, including violent
crime and systematic social observations

Determine where community groups and individuals
have effects on crime

Involve neighborhoods in future design / discussion to
support work, contribute to positive change

That's All for Now!
Contact me with questions or ideas:
Lisa Pittman, lisa@thechildrenstrust.org
Thanks to JSS researchers:
– Craig Uchida, cduchida@jssinc.org
– Shellie Solomon, sesolomon@jssinc.org
– Christine Connor, cconnor@jssinc.org
– Corry Putt, cputt@jssinc.org