Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Disadvantaged neighborhoods'

This paper is a partial and exploratory test of Bernardâs (1990) theory of angry aggression within disadvantaged communities as well as Agnewâs (1999) community-level strain theory. These theories posit that disadvantage and other structural characteristics of neighborhoods lead to environmental stressors, which ultimately may increase anger among individuals who externalize attributions of blame. To date, no study has assessed whether structural characteristics of neighborhoods are related to increased individual anger. Using Ross and Brittâs (1995) survey of Community, Crime, and Health: Illinois Residents, I assess Bernardâs (1990) and Agnewâs (1999) theoretical arguments. The findings show that only one structural indicator measured at the census tract level, urban location, is related to the individual outcome of anger. However, the stressors assessed in this study are positively related to anger, particularly among individuals who externalize blame. There are two main implications of these findings. (1) Community crime models should include measures of emotions such as anger, as community processes have psychological impacts on individuals that may motivate them to commit criminal acts. (2) The structural indicators identified by Bernard (1990) and Agnew (1999) require reevaluation, as only urban location was shown to be related to anger.

The primary purpose of this study was to utilize an ecological-transactional theoretical framework and an existing longitudinal data set to examine the relationships among neighborhood context, family supervision, association with deviant peers, and patterns of substance use during adolescence. Participants included 821 youth from the Longitudinal Cohort Study of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) data set. Data include primary caregiver and youth self-report measures of adult supervision, peer associations, and substance use. Data also include community survey and systematic social observation measures of neighborhood social processes such as collective efficacy, social disorder and social capital, neighborhood disadvantage, policing, and perceived danger collected from 1994-2001 in the city of Chicago. Latent growth curve modeling analyses were used to answer the research questions. Study results were significant associations between neighborhood social processes and substance use. Contrary to previous findings, more positive neighborhood social processes were related to higher levels of substance use for females. For both the African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino groups, deviant peer associations were related to higher levels of substance use at age 12. For the Hispanic/Latino group, higher neighborhood socioeconomic status was related to greater increases in substance use over time. Study results suggest the continued importance of research to discover sex and ethnic variation in associations among contextual influences and adolescent substance use. The current study makes a significant contribution to extant literature by examining the influence of neighborhood social processes, deviant peer associations, and supervision on substance use trajectories. Including peers, parental, and neighborhood factors&mdashin one model&mdashprovided a more comprehensive examination of how contextual influences impact the development of adolescent substance use. In addition, using a multilevel analysis with a diverse, longitudinal data set provided further insights into understanding ethnic and gender variation in the development of adolescents' substance use. Supplemental files include description of PHDCN scale items, HOME measure, Deviance of Peers measure, and items from the Substance Use Interview.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.
Thesis research directed by: Criminology and Criminal Justice. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Background: Cardiovascular health disparities across subpopulations and geographies have been well-documented in urban areas. Evidence suggests that racial minorities and low-socioeconomic groups have high risks of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Residents of the Appalachia also exhibit high rates of CVD, but little is known about the relationships between cardiovascular risk factors, spatial disadvantage, and cardiovascular health outcomes in this region. Thus, this study aimed to examine the independent association between neighborhood factors and subclinical atherosclerosis in an asymptomatic population from central Appalachia. Methods: Community-dwelling asymptomatic individuals (n=210) were screened for Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC), a subclinical marker for coronary atherosclerosis, from January 2010 to January 2014. Based on the standard Agatston Scale, participants were grouped into 4 CAC scores: zero (CAC = 0), mild (CAC = 1-99), moderate (CAC = 100-399) and severe (CAC ≥ 400) to determine the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Demographic information (e.g., age, gender, race, and marital status), cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, smoking, and family history of CAD), and neighborhood level characteristics (racial and socioeconomic characteristics of the population) were used in ordinal logistic regression analyses performed in Stata 14.1. Results: Of the 210 participants, over three-fourths (79%) had a CAC score greater than 1. While 67% of the participants were hypertensive, 80% had hypercholesterolemia, 75% were overweight or obese, 52% had a history of smoking, and 55% had a family history of CAD. There were significant differences in the socioeconomic environment of these residents. Specifically, zip-code median household income was higher for individuals with zero CAC score. Additionally, the zip-code household poverty percentage was higher for those with CAC scores ≥ 1. Although all the neighborhood factors increased the odds of having higher CAC score, none of them were statistically significant. Conclusion: The positive, albeit statistically non-significant, association of adverse neighborhood factors with higher CAC scores suggests the need for larger studies for further understanding of this association. Finally, achieving the Healthy People 2020 goal of reducing or eliminating disparities requires risk factor screening and control in high prevalent areas such as central Appalachia, and understanding the neighborhood level dynamics for CVD.

Childhood is one of the most important stages for physical and cognitive growth during the life course. For young children, sleep is one of the major contributors to healthy development; poor sleep quality and short sleep duration can detrimentally affect developmental progress. In addition to physiological contributors to poor sleep, social factors may affect young children’s sleep. Prior findings suggest that demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, such as race and parent’s educational attainment, may contribute to sleep health for children. Furthermore, limited prior research suggests that neighborhood attributes may affect sleep for both children and adults alike. To my knowledge, no study exists that examines neighborhood effects and sleep for children under the age of six. Therefore, my investigation examines the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on the bedtimes of kindergarten-aged children, a proxy for sleep health. In order to examine the effects of neighborhood disadvantage on sleep, this study utilizes multilevel statistical methods to determine the influence of both individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics. The results from these analyses indicate that while individual-level demographic and socioeconomic characteristics contribute explain more variance in bedtimes than neighborhood-level attributes, neighborhoods significantly affect bedtimes—especially racial composition and overall levels of educational attainment. These findings suggest the need for further research on the effects of neighborhoods on sleep and ultimately health outcomes.

Nationwide, housing authorities demolish public housing communities and relocate the existing residents in an attempt to create more favorable neighborhood environments and to promote safer and more efficacious social interactions for public housing residents. Yet, studies of public housing relocation do not find strong evidence of beneficial social interaction occurring between relocated residents and new neighbors. Despite increased safety and relative increase in neighborhood economic standing, studies find relocated residents socialize outside of their new neighborhoods or else limit existing neighborhood interactions as compared to living in public housing communities. This raises the question of why relocated residents either do or do not choose to interact with their new neighbors within their new residential settings. In an effort to answer this question, I have conducted a study focused on neighborhood social interactions using public housing residents relocated from six of Atlanta, Georgia’s public housing communities. As a backdrop to the study, I present relevant literature concerning both the study of neighborhoods and the study of prior relocation endeavors. I argue that neighborhoods do provide important social landscapes for attempting to benefit public housing residents, though more research and a different framework of analysis are needed in order to manifest theorized outcomes of relocation for all residents involved. I then employ the use of both quantitative survey data from 248 relocated residents and qualitative in-depth interview data from 40 relocated residents to provide further insight into social interaction patterns after relocation from Atlanta’s public housing. This research finds that prior to relocation residents in public housing communities differed in terms of their ideal zones of action and preferred levels of inclusion and engagement in the neighborhood setting and in terms of their surrounding community scene. By examining these different ideal-types of residents in detail, I argue that prior to moving the residents, a better fit between resident and neighborhood can be constructed by housing authorities such that more beneficial social interaction outcomes can be achieved overall in the relocation process.

Une des priorités des gouvernements chiliens entre 1990 et 2005 était la réduction du déficit de logements. Les progrès ont été significatifs sur le plan quantitatif mais pas sur le qualitatif. Dans ce contexte, la première administration Bachelet a mis en place la Nouvelle politique du logement et d’amélioration de la qualité et l'intégration sociale, qui comprend le premier programme de réhabilitation des quartiers vulnérables, Quiero mi Barrio (PQMB). Une première étape d’étude reconstruit la généalogie et formulation du PQMB et une deuxième examine le développement, notamment à partir d’une étude de cas de deux quartiers. Les résultats indiquent qu’une intégration sociale à l’intérieur des territoires a primé sur une intégration sociale urbaine des quartiers par rapport au reste de la ville. PQMB apparaît comme un programme participatif d’amélioration d’espaces publiques, résultat qui renferme un processus dialectique provenant des décisions et des pratiques de tous les acteurs impliqués. PQMB a toutefois réussi à changer le référentiel des politiques de logement, de la satisfaction de la quantité à la considération de standards de qualité, ainsi qu’à introduire la participation comme un processus indispensable. Plutôt qu’une approche territoriale globale on observe une territorialisation des dépenses publiques, n’étant jamais suffisante pour répondre à la complexité du problème. Nous identifions ainsi trois impératifs pour la réhabilitation chilienne des quartiers défavorisés : le développement d’un système d’appui institutionnel collaboratif, riche et varié, un véritable travail interdisciplinaire, et une pratique d’échanges permanents entre chercheurs et praticiens
One of the Chilean governments priorities between 1990 and 2005 was the reduction of the housing deficit. Progress has been significant quantitatively, but not qualitatively. In this context, the first Bachelet administration has implemented New housing policy of quality improvement and social integration, which includes the first rehabilitation program for distressed neighborhoods, Quiero mi Barrio (PQMB). A first research stage reconstructs the genealogy and formulation of the PQMB, and a second examines its development, in particular through a case study of two neighborhoods. The results show that a social integration within the territories took precedence over an urban social integration of the neighborhoods in relation to the rest of the city. PQMB appears as a participatory program to improve public spaces, which contains a dialectical process coming from the decisions and practices of all actors involved. However, PQMB has achieved a paradigm shift from quantity to quality in terms of Chilean housing policies, as well as the introduction of citizen participation as an indispensable process. Rather than a comprehensive territorial approach, a territorialization of public spending is observed, which is nonetheless never sufficient to tackle the complexity of the problem. We thus identify three imperatives for the Chilean rehabilitation of disadvantaged neighborhoods: the development of a collaborative institutional support system, rich and varied; a real interdisciplinary work; and a permanent exchange between researchers and practitioners
Una de las prioridades de los gobiernos chilenos entre 1990 y 2005 fue la reducción del déficit habitacional. Los progresos han sido significativos en el plano cuantitativo, pero no así en el cualitativo. En este contexto, la primera administración de Bachelet implementó la Nueva Política Habitacional de Mejoramiento de la Calidad y la Integración Social, que incluye el primer programa de recuperación de barrios vulnerables, Quiero mi Barrio (PQMB). Una primera etapa de investigación reconstruye la genealogía y formulación del PQMB, y una segunda examina su desarrollo, particularmente a partir de un estudio de caso de dos barrios. Los resultados indican que una integración social al interior de los territorios primó por sobre una integración social urbana de los barrios respecto al resto de la ciudad. El PQMB aparece como un programa participativo de mejoramiento de espacios públicos, resultado que encierra un proceso dialéctico derivado de las decisiones y prácticas de todos los actores implicados. No obstante, el PQMB logró cambiar el referencial de las políticas habitacionales, de la satisfacción de la cantidad a la consideración de estándares de calidad, así como también introducir la participación como un proceso indispensable. En lugar de un enfoque territorial integral, se observa una territorialización del gasto público que nunca es suficiente para satisfacer la complejidad del problema. La tesis identifica tres imperativos para la recuperación de barrios vulnerables en Chile: el desarrollo de un sistema de apoyo institucional y de colaboración, rico y variado, un auténtico trabajo interdisciplinario, y una práctica de intercambio permanente entre investigadores y profesionales ejecutores

Introduktion: Fysisk inaktivitet beskrivs idag som ett växande globalt folkhälsoproblem där en tredjedel av världens alla vuxna inte når upp till de internationella rekommendationerna för fysisk aktivitet. Fysisk inaktivitet fastställs även som en av de ledande riskfaktor för förtida död och förknippas ofta med sjukdomar som hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar, diabetes och cancer. Kvinnor i åldrarna 18–64 år boende i socioekonomiskt utsatta områden beskrivs vara i särskild risk för fysisk inaktivitet, framförallt då bristande möjligheter till att utöva fysisk aktivitet är ledande för denna befolkningsgrupp. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att beskriva vilka riskfaktorer som kan bidra till fysisk inaktivitet samt vilka skyddsfaktorer som kan bidra till fysisk aktivitet bland kvinnor i åldrarna 18–64 år i socioekonomiskt utsatta områden i höginkomstländer. Metod: Den metod som tillämpades var en systematisk litteraturöversikt där 20 vetenskapliga artiklar stod till grund för resultatet. De databaser som användes i studien var PubMed och Medline och de vetenskapliga artiklarna var publicerade mellan år 2005–2020. Vidare granskades och bearbetats dessa artiklar utifrån en tematisk innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet redovisades med utgångspunkt från tre huvudteman; socioekonomiska faktorer, psykosociala faktorer samt fysisk miljö. I resultatet framkom det att faktorer som låg utbildningsnivå, låg nivå av self-efficacy, avsaknad av socialt stöd samt bristande ekonomiska förutsättningar och fysisk miljö var påverkande orsaker till fysisk inaktivitet bland kvinnor i socioekonomiskt utsatta områden. Slutsats: Utifrån resultatet går det att dra slutsatsen att fysisk inaktivitet bland kvinnor i socioekonomiskt utsatta områden är ett synnerligen viktigt ämne som berör många perspektiv, både på individnivå och på samhällsnivå. Den fysiska inaktiviteten bland kvinnor i socioekonomiskt missgynnade stadsdelar handlar i stora delar om brist på de skyddsfaktorer som kan bidra till en ökad fysisk aktivitet.
Introduction: Physical inactivity is described as a growing global public health problem where one third of all the world’s adults do not achieve the international recommendations for physical activity. Physical inactivity is also identified as one of the leading risk factors for premature death and is often associated with diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Women aged 18-64 living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are described as being at particular risk of physical inactivity, especially as lack of opportunitiesis common among this group of population when it comes to physical activity. Aim: The aim of this literature study is to describe the risk factors that can contribute to physical inactivity and the protective factors that can contribute to physical activity among women aged 18-64 living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in high-income countries. Methods: The method used was a systematic literature review based on 20 scientific articles.The databases that were used in the study were PubMed and Medline and the scientific articles were published between 2005–2020. Furthermore, these articles were reviewed and processed on the basis of a thematic content analysis. Results: The results were presented on the basis of three main themes; socioeconomic factors, psychosocial factors and physical environment. The results showed that factors such as low level of education, low level of self efficacy, lack of social support and lack of financial prerequisites and physical environment were influential causes of physical inactivity among women in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that physical inactivity among women in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods is a particularly important topic that affects many perspectives, both at the individual level and at the societal level. The physical inactivity among women in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods is largely due to a lack of the protective factors that can contribute to increased physical activity.

Created in 1965, Head Start is the longest running national school readiness program in the United States. Head Start was developed to improve children's social and academic readiness for kindergarten and to reduce the academic achievement gap between impoverished and more affluent children. However, questions about the effectiveness of Head Start have trouble the program since its inception. Head Start children often experience considerably more sociocontextual risk, specifically in the form of more economic disadvantage, maternal psychological distress, and dangerous neighborhoods. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which attending Head Start buffers children from some of the harmful effects of sociocontextual risk on their acquisition of academic and social school readiness skills. Socio-contextual risk factors were largely unrelated to the school readiness skills. Only mothers' reports of anxiety were significantly associated with slower rates of increase in children's PPVT scores, suggesting that mothers who are more anxious have children who are not developing receptive vocabulary scores as quickly as children whose mothers have fewer anxiety symptoms. Head Start did not buffer the impact of socio-contextual risk on children's attainment of school readiness skills. A secondary goal of the present study was to validate mothers' reports of neighborhood danger with interviewer impressions of neighborhood safety and objective crime reports. Interviewer impressions correlated significantly with mothers' reports of neighborhood danger and official crime statistics. Interestingly, official crime statistics were not correlated with mothers' reports of neighborhood danger, but were correlated with interviewer impressions. Interviewers may provide a valuable objective perspective of characteristics of the neighborhood. This sample was not intended to explore the effects of natural disasters on household structures, maternal psychopathology, or children's academic development. However, results clearly highlighted the need to empirically consider the specific challenges associated with lowincome families after a natural disaster. Study implications and promising directions for future research are discussed.

This inquiry into informal networks and policy negotiations is set in the theoretical framework of network governance. It builds theory to explain informal networks by examining neighbourhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans through a variety of qualitative methodologies including interviews, document analysis, surveying and ethnography. In New Orleans, neighbourhood associations do not engage in social-service delivery, they prioritise neighbourhood protection and neighbourhood change. They represent their neighbourhoods through a system of intensive volunteering not elections. That system burns out neighbourhood leaders and leaves associations constantly looking for new volunteers. These associations partner with non-profits, work with politicians, and engage in fierce conflict when excluded from policy negotiations. Finally, they set their agenda based upon the physical characteristics of their neighbourhoods, investing in local institutions. These findings contribute to network governance theory. New Orleans’ democracy of volunteers introduces a new form of democratic anchorage to governance theory. Actors in informal networks have varying priorities. This demonstrates the importance of early involvement by these actors in policy creation and the ways in which policy construction can ignore community. Neighbourhood associations blackmail, bribe and coerce to create their own power, showing how power at the micro-level includes not only resources and decision-making, but also interest. These findings fit into a broader theme. Negotiations with multiple actors improve policy by incorporating complex priorities and neighbourhood context into the policy system. This wider theme of how to address complexity is the policy equivalent of the wisdom of crowds. Policy-makers can either incorporate complexity such as local context and differing priorities or face the conflict and consequences of ignoring it.

L’objet de notre recherche vise à identifier les chemins de l’émancipation individuelle desdescendantes sportives de migrants maghrébins habitantes de quartier populaire.Parler d’émancipation féminine dans un contexte d’héritage migratoire arabo-musulman suscite unrisque de lecture du processus au travers de catégories sociales ethnocentrées. Le premier travail a doncconsisté en une déconstruction des catégories sociales dominantes puis en une reconstruction de catégoriesd’intelligibilité du social afin de dépasser l’illusion de la relégation collective cumulée - sexuée, culturelle etsociale - des descendantes de migrants maghrébins et l’impasse pratique de l’injonction paradoxale de« fidélité versus rupture » vis-à-vis du système anthropologique arabo-musulman. Dès lors, notre lecturecompréhensive de l’engagement, minoritaire et innovant, des descendantes dans un loisir sportif, en tantqu’espace de tradition masculine impliquant particulièrement le corps, a permis d’appréhender les moteurs etmodalités d’une individualisation qui ne traduit pas une simple contestation pratique d’une tradition héritée.Cheminer vers la recherche des conditions de possibilité de leur expérience de loisir sportif et desimplications pratiques de cet engagement sur leur repositionnement dans divers rapports sociaux a exigé demobiliser une démarche de terrain enracinée. A l’issue d’une enquête quantitative basée sur un repéragepatronymique de la représentation des descendantes dans l’offre de loisir territorialisée d’un quartier bisontin,54 éclairages qualitatifs ont permis de recueillir la matière de cette recherche au fur et à mesure de 6 moisd’observation participante des loisirs sportifs sur le quartier.Nous avons constaté que les processus familiaux de transmissions mémorielles et culturelles –références sexuées et religieuses – sont les vecteurs d’une dynamique des générations source de changementsnégociés entre la génération des migrants et celle des descendants. Fonction des vécus pré et post-migratoires,ils conditionnent la définition de statuts féminins et masculins qui stimulent différentiellement tant la doubleinscription familiale et sociale que l’engagement dans des espaces et des pratiques renouvelés, dont le sport.Le statut du transmetteur, le genre de l’héritier, sa place dans la fratrie, la structuration de celle-ci définissentles conditions individualisées de transmission, mais aussi de réception, de ce fond commun familial. Dans unsystème d’échanges généralisés, les matrices de l’expérience, territoriale et scolaire, représentent alors uncontexte global de validation ou d’invalidation des stratégies éducatives parentales et définissent les conditionsde leur inflexion ou réorientation progressive. L’ensemble de ces transmissions et variables conduisent à desunivers des possibles sportifs fragmentés chez les descendantes de l’immigration maghrébine.Les implications de cet engagement en termes d’émancipation « en tant que descendantes del’immigration maghrébine dans un quartier populaire » ont alors été appréhendées du point de vue de leursexpériences, donc de ce qu’elles font et de ce qu’elles sont quand elles disent qu’elles sont émancipées. Lesbricolages situés ambivalents mis en place traduisent leur identification optionnelle fonction de la désignationincluse dans l’interaction, le moment et l’espace. Ils leur permettent de concilier leurs aspirations et référencescontradictoires, ainsi que les contraintes qui en découlent, et de re-prendre place simultanément dans lafiliation et la société au travers de processus pluriels d’autonomisation, d’individualisation, de distinction oud’autodétermination destinés à refuser les assignations
The aim of our study was to identify the forms that individual emancipation takes for the women froma disadvantaged neighborhood in a French city who are involved in sports and are the descendants of NorthAfrican immigrants.We are well aware that a study of female emancipation within the context of Arab-Muslimimmigration could run the risk of being ethnocentrically biased. To avoid this, our first task involved adeconstruction of the dominant social categories, followed by a reconstruction of scientifically-based socialcategories in order to break out of both the current collective gender, cultural and social exclusion of thefemale descendants of North African immigrants and of the impasse presented by the dictate of "loyalty orrupture" which exists in the Arab-Muslim anthropological system. Our comprehensive study of thecommitments, which are few in number and innovative, of the female descendants who participate in arecreational sport that involves the body and which is usually reserved for males, provides the drivers andconditions of an individualization that is not simply rebellion against an inherited tradition.In order to research the conditions under which the women experienced recreational sports and thepractical implications that this commitment had on their repositioning in social relationships, we usedgrounded theory methodology. We used patronymic tracking in a quantitative survey to obtain the percentageof female descendants participating in recreational sport offered in a neighborhood of Besançon, France, andthen we carried out 54 qualitative interviews. The research material was collected over a 6-month period ofon-site observation of recreational sports activities.We found that family processes of memory and cultural transmissions (gender and religiousreferences) are drivers of a generational dynamic: sources of changes negotiated between the generation ofimmigrants and that of the descendants. Based on pre-and post-immigration experiences, these processesdetermine the definition of female and male status, which stimulates in different ways family and socialpositions, as well as a new type of involvement with space and the new practices that accompany participationin sport. The status of the transmitter, the gender of the inheritor, her place among siblings, and thestructuration of her place define not only the individualized conditions of transmission, but also the conditionsof their reception into the common family background. In a generalized system of exchange, the matrices ofexperience (neighborhood and school environs) are representative of the over-all context of validation orinvalidation of parental educational strategies and define the conditions either for their acceptance or for theirgradual reorientation. All these types of transmissions and variables produce sport experiences that are variedand different for female descendants of North African immigrants. .The implications of this commitment to emancipation by the female descendants of North Africanimmigrants in a disadvantaged neighborhood are demonstrated in our study in terms of their experiences, i.e.,in what they do and what they are when they say they are emancipated. The resulting assemblage of varyingopposing and similar elements reflects their optional identification based on interactions, a particular time, andspace. It enables these women to reconcile their conflicting aspirations and references, and the resultingconstraints, and at the same time to take a new place in filiation and society via the multi-leveled process ofself-determination, individualization, distinguishing themselves from other women, and self-empowerment

abstract: Psychological distress occurs at disproportionate rates among minority groups and individuals with lower socioeconomic status. This dissertation focuses on the relationship between living in a disadvantaged neighborhood and distress among Latinos, the formal and informal organizations that mediate the direct and indirect relationship between disadvantage and distress in this population, and the differences of social stress processes based on aspects of Latino social status, linguistic acculturation status, and the percentage of residents in the neighborhood that identify as Latino. This dissertation focuses its investigation on Latinos living in Chicago, specifically asking: In a metropolitan city, can the presence of formal and informal community organizations protect Latinos living in disadvantage neighborhoods from experiencing psychological distress? The findings demonstrate an indirect association between disadvantage and distress though objective disorganization and perception of disorganization. Both the density of community centers and block watch had an indirect protective effect, mediating the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and distress, but did not decrease the indirect effect of disadvantage on distress through objective or perceptions of disorganization. The results of this dissertation suggest that changes to a neighborhood's environment may decrease population rates of distress in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Social Work 2014

Research on the determinants of injection drug use behavior has traditionally concentrated on factors operating at the individual level. However, more recent studies have found that behaviors surrounding injection drug use are shaped, not only by individual-level characteristics, but also by the environment in which they occur. The risk environment paradigm, proposed by Rhodes and colleagues, describes how factors exogenous to the individual influence high-risk injection behavior and blood borne virus (BBV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID). To date, few elements of the risk environment have been evaluated as potential determinants of high-risk injection behavior. The purpose of this dissertation was to study the influence of two elements of the risk environment on unsafe injection practices among PWID – neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and social discomfort surrounding the acquisition of sterile syringes from syringe exchange programs (SEPs) and pharmacies. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted on the relation between neighborhood context and injection drug use behavior. Research gaps and methodological challenges identified in this review were used to design analyses exploring relations among neighborhood disadvantage, social discomfort, and high-risk injection behavior. These analyses were conducted using data collected from 484 PWID enrolled in the Pharmacists as Resources Making Links to Community Services (PHARM-Link) study, combined with data from the American Community Survey. Poisson regression with robust error variance was used to estimate associations between measures of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and high-risk injection behavior. SEP accessibility and drug-related police activity were evaluated as potential modifiers of these relations. Similar methods were used to estimate associations between measures of social discomfort and high-risk injection behavior, including neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage as a potential effect modifier. The systematic literature review on neighborhood context and injection drug use behavior identified few articles pertaining to this relation (n=22). Selected studies primarily investigated the influence of structural aspects of the neighborhood environment on behaviors surrounding injection drug use, while aspects of the social environment and potential modifiers of neighborhood-behavior relations were understudied. Subsequent quantitative analyses revealed that neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with safer injection behaviors among PWID. Injectors in disadvantaged neighborhoods reported less receptive syringe sharing and less unsterile syringe use than their counterparts in relatively better off neighborhoods. Drug-related police activity attenuated associations between neighborhood disadvantage and unsterile syringe use, while the direction of associations between neighborhood disadvantage and the use of unsafe syringe sources varied with levels of SEP accessibility. In neighborhoods with high SEP accessibility, neighborhood disadvantage was associated with decreased use of unsafe syringe sources, while in neighborhoods with low SEP accessibility, neighborhood disadvantage was associated with increased use of unsafe syringe sources. Social discomfort was not associated with high-risk injection behavior, but effect modification was detected between neighborhood disadvantage and two items measuring the quality of relationships between participants and syringe staff: “Pharmacists care about my health and well-being” and “The staff at syringe exchange programs seems to care about my health and well-being.” In disadvantaged neighborhoods, participants who reported positive relationships with syringe staff were less likely to engage in receptive syringe sharing. However, in relatively better off neighborhoods, positive relationships with syringe staff were associated with increased receptive syringe sharing. Overall, the results of this dissertation support the validity of the risk environment paradigm in shaping high-risk injection behavior among PWID. Future studies should continue to investigate contextual factors as determinants of behavior surrounding injection drug use. Understanding how aspects of local-area environments influence injection risk behavior will be essential to eliminating the transmission of BBVs among PWID.

Résumé Cette étude quasi expérimentale consistait à élaborer et à mettre à l’essai une mesure de soutien à l’intention d’enseignants débutants ainsi qu’à évaluer l’efficacité de celle-ci. L’une des particularités de cette mesure, appelée Dispositif de soutien en gestion de classe, était qu’elle était centrée essentiellement sur le développement de la compétence à gérer la classe. L’application du dispositif, échelonnée sur une année scolaire, portait sur une trentaine d’enseignants débutants œuvrant au primaire, en milieu défavorisé, à Montréal. Basé sur les trois phases du modèle théorique d’Archambault et Chouinard (2003), le dispositif se déclinait selon trois cycles de formation : l’établissement du fonctionnement de la classe, le maintien de celui-ci et le soutien à la motivation scolaire, ainsi que l’intervention pour résoudre des problèmes de comportement. Chaque cycle commençait par une journée de formation et d’appropriation (JFA) durant laquelle il y avait présentation d’un contenu théorique puis des ateliers d’appropriation. Par la suite, les enseignants effectuaient des mises en pratique dans leur classe. Pour terminer le cycle, un autre type de rencontre, la rencontre de suivi (RS), servait entre autres à objectiver la pratique. L’aspect original de cette mesure de soutien était que la première rencontre de formation était offerte une semaine avant la rentrée scolaire. Sur le thème « Commencer l’année du bon pied en gestion de classe », cette journée avait pour objectif de soutenir les enseignants débutants dans l’installation du fonctionnement de leur classe. L’efficacité du dispositif a été évaluée sur la base de trois dimensions : l’établissement et le maintien de l’ordre et de la discipline, le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle ainsi que la motivation professionnelle. Les perceptions du groupe d’enseignants débutants ayant pris part aux activités du dispositif (n = 27) ont été comparées à celles d’un groupe témoin (n = 44). Les participants avaient, en moyenne, 2,9 années d’expérience et leur âge variait de 23 à 56 ans. Les données ont été recueillies à l’aide d’un questionnaire auto rapporté rempli en deux temps, soit au deuxième et au huitième mois de l’année scolaire. Les scores des enseignants débutants du dispositif ont augmenté dans le temps pour l’ensemble des variables à l’étude. De plus, les analyses de variance à mesures répétées ont révélé que le dispositif a eu une triple incidence positive, attestée par des effets d’interaction. Les enseignants débutants engagés dans la démarche ont connu une augmentation de leur capacité à implanter les règles de classe, de leur sentiment d’efficacité personnelle à gérer les situations d’apprentissage et de leur motivation professionnelle. En effet, alors que, au début de l’étude, ils rapportaient des scores significativement inférieurs à ceux du groupe témoin, à la fin, les scores étaient équivalents. Les résultats ont aussi montré que les participants du groupe expérimental se distinguaient en affichant un meilleur sentiment d’efficacité à faire apprendre leurs élèves. L’étude nous apprend également que le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle à faire face aux problèmes de comportement et la capacité à gérer les comportements se sont renforcés de façon significative dans le temps chez l’ensemble des enseignants débutants. Finalement, aucun changement significatif n’a été détecté pour deux des huit variables à l’étude : le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle à avoir un effet sur le comportement des élèves et l’application des règles de classe. En définitive, ces résultats sont encourageants. Ils montrent l’enrichissement professionnel que les enseignants débutants peuvent retirer lorsqu’ils sont soutenus adéquatement. Nous croyons que la journée de formation portant sur l’installation du fonctionnement de la classe, avant la rentrée scolaire, a joué un rôle central dans les succès vécus par les enseignants débutants participants. C’est pourquoi nous recommandons ce type de formation assorti d’un suivi à long terme, où d’autres composantes entrent en jeu, afin de nourrir le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle et la motivation professionnelle des nouveaux enseignants.
Abstract The purpose of this quasi experimental study was to develop, test and assess the effectiveness of a support measure for new entrant teachers. One of the characteristics of this measure called “Support tool for classroom management” was to focus on the development of classroom management skills. The study extended over one school year and involved about thirty new primary school teachers in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Montreal. Based on Archambault and Chouinard’s three-phase theoretical model (2003), the tool consisted of three training cycles: develop classroom dynamics, maintain and support academic focus, and act to solve behavior problems. Each cycle began with a training session during which theoretical content was presented, and then followed by hands-on sessions. Afterwards, teachers practiced implementation in their classroom. To complete the cycle, another type of meeting called the “follow-up” meeting was scheduled to, among other things, objectify the practice. The original aspect of this support measure was to provide the first training session one week before the start of the school year. The objective of this first session, themed “Getting off to a good start in classroom management”, was to support new entrant teachers in establishing classroom dynamics. To determine the tool’s effectiveness, we based our assessment on the following three dimensions: development and maintenance of order and discipline, self-efficacy and career motivation. The perceptions of a group of new entrant teachers who participated in tool-related activities (n = 27) were compared with the ones of teachers in a control group (n = 44). Globally, participants had on average 2.9 years of experience and were between 23 and 56 years of age. The data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire that was administered in two stages, in the second and eighth months of the school year. New entrant teachers reported improvements on all study variables. In addition, repeated measures analyses of variance revealed that the tool had had a triple positive impact, as was demonstrated by interaction effects. New entrant teachers who used the tool increased their ability to enforce classroom rules, their self-efficacy at managing learning situations, and their motivation on the job. While they reported significantly lower results at the beginning of the study, the results of the treatment and control groups had become equivalent at the end. The results also indicated that treatment group participants had gained confidence in their teaching skills. The study also revealed that the sense of personal effectiveness at managing behavior problems and the capacity to manage behaviors were significantly reinforced over time amongst all new entrant teachers. Finally, two out the eight study variables did not have a significant effect: sense of personal effectiveness at making an impact on student behavior, and classroom rules enforcement. Ultimately, these results are encouraging. They demonstrate that new entrant teachers can benefit from professional enrichment when they are adequately supported. We believe that the training session on classroom dynamics that took place a week before the start of the school year played a central role in the success of the new entrant teachers who participated in the study. Therefore, we recommend this type of training, along with long-term monitoring, to increase the self-efficacy of new entrant teachers, and, ultimately, to enhance their career motivation.