FROM ISOLATION TO COMMUNITY: EXPLORATORY STUDY OF A SENSE-OF-COMMUNITY INTERVENTION.

Abstract

This exploratory pilot study analyzes the role a facilitated neighborhood intervention, geared towards meeting one's neighbors and discussing local needs and civic action, can play in moving individuals from isolation to community. It focuses on whether NeighborCircles, a neighborhood intervention run by a non-profit in Massachusetts, is associated with increases in social capital (SC); the main constructs used are Perkins and Long's (2002) four dimensions of SC (sense of community (SOC), collective efficacy, neighboring and participation), with a primary focus on SOC. Surveys and interviews with a majority Latino sample group reveal NeighborCircles is associated with increases in all four dimensions of SC. The author concludes by considering what may have led to these reported increases, as well as implications for both future research about and experimentation with similar interventions.