Collective efficacy in disadvantaged neighborhoods: The influence of Habitat for Humanity

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this study, we examine neighborhood poverty and the problems with which it is associated. Much of housing policy is based on the assumption that poor people need more affluent people around them to solve these problems. We argue instead that individual motivation to better one’s life may have a larger impact on surrounding neighbors, especially if these individuals are similar in race and income. We investigate low-income neighborhoods characterized by a large presence of Habitat for Humanity homeowners in five U.S. cities to determine whether their Habitat residents’ motivation to better their lives has a spillover effect on their neighbors. Through a comparative multiple case study design, we examine the collective efficacy of these census blocks and find that there is a positive “Habitat effect” on these neighborhoods. However, we find that the local Habitat affiliate characteristics, number and development pattern of Habitat houses present, and level of neighborhood disadvantage are also key contextual variables in determining any positive effect on their neighborhoods. Our conclusions provide lessons for local Habitat affiliates, as well as policymakers, planning agencies, and housing advocates.