Mary L. Ohmer

The Effectiveness of Community Practice Interventions: A Review of the Literature.

Objective: Evidence-based practice is becoming increasingly important in social work and community practice. The authors reviewed existing research to assess the level of evidence available to guide community practice. Method: The authors conducted a review of the literature on community practice intervention research from 1985 to 2002 using several databases, search engines, and personal contact with researchers. The authors found 269 articles published from 1985 to 2001. Fifty-eight were quantitative and combined quantitative and qualitative studies, of which 20 were intervention studies. Conclusions: The search revealed a relatively small number of quantitative intervention studies using experimental or statistical controls (9), which suggests the need for a consideration of how to develop the evidence base for community practice. Implications for social work practice are also discussed.

Community Gardening and Community Development: Individual, Social and Community Benefits of a Community Conservation Program

Community agriculture and conservation initiatives have become increasingly important components of sustainable community development strategies, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods. This study examines a community conservation program whose goal was to foster revitalization through the establishment of floral and vegetable gardens primarily in distressed areas. Respondents indicated that the program contributed to revitalizing neighborhoods, as well as their beliefs and behavior regarding conservation issues, sense of community, and volunteerism. Motivation for involvement in the program was high. The most important reasons for involvement were to beautify and give back to the community and to support conservation of green space. The more volunteers were engaged in the program, the greater their motivation, conservation ethic, and volunteerism in other community activities. This study illustrates the importance of community gardening and conservation efforts in improving and beautifying distressed communities, promoting sustainable community development, and increasing civic engagement and conservation practices. Implications for practice are also discussed.

Linking informal social control and restorative justice: moving social disorganization theory beyond community policing

Much of what is at the heart of social disorganization theory’s approach to neighborhood crime prevention has been ignored in favor of policies that are more closely associated with deterrence and rational choice theories. Specifically, ideas of informal social control and collective efficacy have often been translated into policies of community surveillance and the reporting of suspicious behaviors to the police. While these policies may make neighborhoods less attractive to offenders because they create higher certainty levels of recognition, and subsequently arrest, social disorganization theory, at its heart, suggests crime prevention policies of a very different nature: policies that are more closely associated with restorative justice, re‐integrative shaming and peacemaking criminology. These associations are highlighted and provide a conceptual model for a community crime prevention program that is more consistent with the underlying nature of social disorganization theory.

Strategies for Preventing Neighborhood Violence: Toward Bringing Collective Efficacy into Social Work Practice

Neighborhood violence has profound effects on issues associated with social work practice, such as health, safety, and the positive development of children, youth, and families. This article brings together the literatures in criminology and public health that examine violence and social works history in community practice to develop violence prevention strategies. One important concept from the criminology and public health literatures is collective efficacy, defined as neighbors having shared values, trust, and a willingness to intervene in neighborhood problems. By building on the community practice literature and studies from peacemaking criminology, the article provides examples of ways that collective efficacy can be built and implemented in low income neighborhoods. Strategies include awareness of collective efficacy, relationship building, bystander education, and restorative justice.

Using Photovoice to Empower Youth and Adults to Prevent Crime

Photovoice empowers residents to use photographs to identify neighborhood concerns. Although Photovoice has been used to facilitate dialogue and action among residents to address a variety of issues, including neighborhood crime, it has not been used as part of an intervention to promote collective efficacy. This project integrated Photovoice into a crime-prevention program the goal of which was to facilitate collective efficacy, which. in turn, has been associated with lower levels of neighborhood crime and violence. Twenty-four racially diverse youth and adults participated in a crime-prevention training where Photovoice was used first to identify neighborhood characteristics that participants believed contributed to and alleviated crime, and then to develop a community project. Participants worked together to reuse a highly visible vacant lot to create an inviting neighborhood art and garden space that was open to the whole community. This process facilitated stronger social ties among neighborhood residents, as well as strategies for intervening in neighborhood problems, both of which are important components of collective efficacy.

Strategies for Preventing Youth Violence: Facilitating Collective Efficacy Among Youth and Adults

Objective: The consequences of violence in low-income communities often are extensive, particularly among youth. Prior research demonstrates that communities can prevent violence by developing collective efficacy, which happens when neighbors share norms and values, trust one another, and are willing to intervene to address problems. Despite this evidence, there have been few attempts to translate the theory of collective efficacy into practice. The current study examines the results of a pilot community-based intervention designed to facilitate collective efficacy by engaging youth and adult residents in a disadvantaged neighborhood. Method: The intervention consisted of three phases: community organizing and mobilization; a training program to facilitate collective efficacy; and a community-based project, after the training, developed by participants to address a youth-violence prevention issue. The current study used a repeated measures design to examine the intervention’s effects on participants’ level of collective efficacy before and after the training, and following completion of the community project. A purposeful sampling method was used to recruit 24 youth and adult residents of a disadvantaged neighborhood. Results: After the training, participants increased their levels of collective efficacy—including their levels of social capital and social cohesion, and their likelihood to intervene in neighborhood problems. Following the community project, participants increased their norms and attitudes about intervening. Conclusions: This study can be used to inform the development of a larger scale intervention trial to facilitate collective efficacy at the community level and reduce youth violence.

Assessing and Developing the Evidence Base of Macro Practice Interventions with a Community and Neighborhood Focus

ABSTRACT Assessing and developing the evidence base of macro practice with a community and neighborhood focus is challenging because of the lack of rigorous studies, difficulties posed by conducting research at the community level, and lack of evaluation capacity at multiple levels of practice. Current evidence on community interventions is summarized. Resources for assessing community interventions are presented, along with strategies for searching, appraising, and synthesizing the evidence. Challenges and potential solutions to developing the evidence base of community interventions are discussed, including defining and analyzing complex community interventions, developing rigorous research designs, and building the evaluation capacity of community-based organizations.

Preventing violence in disadvantaged communities: Strategies for building collective efficacy and improving community health

ABSTRACT Violence is a critical health issue that compromises the strength of communities and permanently damages the lives of individuals and families. The impact of violence on health and well-being is particularly devastating in disadvantaged and minority communities, leading to negative health outcomes, including premature death. However, research suggests that communities can prevent violence and negative health outcomes by developing collective efficacy, which happens when neighbors share norms and values, trust one another, and are willing to intervene to address problems. Despite the importance of collective efficacy in preventing violence and improving health, almost no research has investigated actionable strategies to build collective efficacy in disadvantaged neighborhoods. This article describes a theoretical and conceptual model that illustrates how collective efficacy impacts community violence and related health outcomes. We begin by reviewing other approaches to community violence prevention, including criminal justice and developmental approaches. We then discuss how collective efficacy works and why it matters, including theoretical and empirical research explaining collective efficacy and its impact on community violence and health. We then discuss a research-based intervention that social workers can use to facilitate collective efficacy, including our conceptual model and the key components of the intervention. Finally, we discuss implications for social workers who are working with communities to address violence and related health issues.

Inequality and Its Discontents

In the last two decades, the income and security of the individual middle class worker has declined, and the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. In contrast to the last twenty years and the “gilded age” that preceded it, from the time of the first New Deal through the 1970s, the middle class prospered. Wealth and income were more equitably shared in America. This article examines policies that strengthened the middle class during the New Deal, during World War II, and after World War II. These policies strengthened the bargaining power of labor. This article offers suggestions for reviving the middle class now with particular focus on empowering labor.

Community Approaches for Addressing Crime and Violence: Prevention, Intervention, and Restoration

Crime and violence have long been among the more pressing and recalcitrant community challenges especially with increasing inequality and growing disparities among communities. Given this context for exploring and understanding community-based approaches for crime prevention, in America, this chapter examines theories related to crime prevention, as well as community organizing and programmatic community-based approaches used to address crime and community violence at the local level. In discussing community intervention methods, strategies, and tactics that have been effective in crime prevention, violence intervention, and promoting collective efficacy and restorative justice, this chapter will provide brief case examples of projects and programs that have been undertaken at the community level. These examples provide lessons learned for community practitioners and leaders to undertake and replicate in similar efforts. We will also examine the evidence-base of such community approaches and what applied research supports as best practice in the field.