Collective Efficacy, Group Threat, and Urban Change: Examining Informal Social Control Forces in Areas of Gentrification

Abstract

Since the term gentrification was first coined in the 1960s, scholars have had an interest in understanding how this process of change can impact neighborhoods. Empirical research focusing on the relationship between gentrification and crime has yielded varying results, with little examination of the contextual mechanisms that may influence the relationship. This research combines data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods with several other sources, and employs multilevel modeling techniques to examine two such contextual mechanisms – collective efficacy and group threat, conceptualized as perceived neighborhood change. The results offer preliminary support for the moderating roles of collective efficacy and perceived neighborhood change mechanisms on the relationship between gentrification and crime. While there is an overall negative association between gentrification and crime, this effect is strengthened with collective efficacy, but reversed with rising levels of perceived neighborhood change.