Poor Urban Communities Research Articles

Becoming “Copwise”: Policing, Culture, and the Collateral Consequences of Street-Level Criminalization

Over the last four decades, the United States has witnessed a historic expansion of its criminal justice system. This article examines how street-level criminalization transforms the cultural contexts of poor urban communities. Drawing on five years of fieldwork in Los Angeles’ Skid Row–the site of one of the most aggressive zero-tolerance policing campaigns to date–the study finds that residents develop and deploy a particular cultural frame–“cop wisdom”–by which they render seemingly-random police activity more legible, predictable, and manipulable. Armed with this interpretive schema, “copwise” residents engage in new forms of self-presentation in public, movement through the daily round, and informal social control in order to deflect police scrutiny and forestall street stops. While these techniques allow residents to reduce unwanted police contact, this often comes at the expense of individual and collective well-being by precluding social interaction, exacerbating stigma, and contributing to animosity in public space.

Land registration effectiveness in a state-subsidised housing project in Mbekweni, South Africa

As part of a programme examining the effectiveness of land tenure forms − tenure administration system combinations, the paper examines how and why beneficiaries use land registration in Project 2, a state subsidised housing project in Mbekweni, South Africa. The ownership − registration combination can have a number of negative consequences when policy makers focus on economics alone, rather than the complete set of factors that are critical for registered ownership to work in poor urban communities. South Africa’s state-subsidised housing programme has created up to 3.7 million housing opportunities. Off-register secondary transactions constitute a major problem when the properties registered in ownership. Building on a series of related case studies, an evaluative schema classifying an ownership − registration combination as strong, semi-strong, semi-weak or weak is presented, along with the main findings from three previously reported case studies where the combination was classified as semi-strong. The beneficiaries in Project 2 were predominantly in-migrants from a rural customary area, and based on earlier work and the literature, a weak or semi-weak classification was expected. However, the case was classified as semi-strong. Ongoing, visible administration is possibly a major factor underlying this classification.

The Local Food Environment and Body Mass Index among the Urban Poor in Accra, Ghana.

Obesity in the sub-Saharan Africa region has been portrayed as a problem of affluence, partly because obesity has been found to be more common in urban areas and among the rich. Recent findings, however, reveal rising prevalence among the poor particularly the urban poor. A growing body of literature mostly in Western countries shows that obesity among the poor is partly the result of an obesogenic-built environment. Such studies are lacking in the African context. This study examines the characteristics of the local food environment in an urban poor setting in Accra, Ghana and further investigates the associated risk of obesity for residents. Data on the local food environment was collected using geographic positioning system (GPS) technology. The body mass indices (BMI) of females (15-49years) and males (15-59years) were calculated from measured weight and height. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle behaviors of respondents was also collected through a household survey. Spatial analysis tools were used to examine the characteristics of the local food environment while the influence of the food environment on BMI was examined using a two-level multilevel model. The measures of the food environment constituted the level 2 factors while individual socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle behaviors constituted the level 1 factors. The local food environment in the study communities is suggestive of an obesogenic food environment characterized by an abundance of out-of-home cooked foods, convenience stores, and limited fruits and vegetables options. The results of the multilevel analysis reveal a 0.2 kg/m(2) increase in BMI for every additional convenience store and a 0.1 kg/m(2) reduction in BMI for every out-of-home cooked food place available in the study area after controlling for individual socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, and community characteristics. The findings of this study indicate that the local food environment in urban poor Accra is associated with increased risk of obesity through providing access to convenience stores. In order to reduce the risk of obesity in these urban poor communities, there is the need to regulate the availability of and access to convenience stores while also encouraging healthier offerings in convenience stores.

Understanding urban poverty in two high-density suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACTUrban communities are heterogeneous and averages mask inequities and deprivations among poor and rich urban communities. This article examines the situation of households residing in two low-income, high-density suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe. The aim of the research was to contextualise urban poverty by looking at selected urban communities and vertically analysing the patterns and determinants of poverty. A household survey was administered to 1000 households and qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The study found high levels of income poverty and also found differences in poverty experiences between the two suburbs. The major proximate determinants of poverty were large family size; low education level of the household head; lack of income from permanent employment; low cash transfers; and short length of residence in the suburb. Increasing household income consumption can be addressed through scaling-up industries, which would result in more quality employment.

Disruption of Things: A Model to Facilitate Adoption of IoT-based Innovations by the Urban Poor

This study examines the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) based innovations by urban poor communities. In recent years, IoT applications in social networking, smart cities and m-health have been explored, but the social acceptance of such applications remain largely unknown. A consumer segment on which IoT can have a major positive impact is the urban poor, where IoT can provide access to services such as healthcare, education and food security. However, to facilitate adoption among the poor, IoT-based innovations must incorporate the unique characteristics of this segment viz. low levels of technology awareness, social acceptance and consumer need. The Disruption of Things refers to the process of distribution the innovations that are based on IoT and replacing existing market leaders and prevalent systems. The study was conducted in four stages – a literature review, a survey with the target users, interviews with experts (both technological and sociological) and a usability test with a prototype technology system. The results from the surveys, interviews and usability tests were used to develop a model for adoption of IoT-based innovations by the urban poor. The model identifies five sources of innovation – nutrition, healthcare, employment, education and finances. Based on these sources, a participative design process is undertaken. Once developed the innovation must provide excellent service based on three parameters – benefits (value of using the system to the users), support provided to the users, and training/instructions given to them regarding system use. Satisfied system's users would then be leveraged through three channels – advertising, social media and word-of-mouth, in order to spur greater adoption of the innovation among the urban poor. Accomplishing these systematic processes would enable the Disruption of Things – replacement of existing market leaders by an IoT-based innovation.

People's Risk Perceptions and Responses to Climate Change and Natural Disasters in BASECO Compound, Manila, Philippines

The research probed the residents’ awareness of climate change, perception of risk and their preparedness for natural disasters in the urban poor community of BASECO in Manila, Philippines. Using a structural equation model (SEM) for predicting building resilience and increasing adaptive capacity validates the hypothesis for risk perception in the context of the urban poor and the structural constraints that subjugates the high level of risk perception. The study highlights the importance of understanding the risk perceptions and responses to climate change and natural disasters with social, economic, political and cultural perspectives to ensure participation in building resilience and increasing adaptive capacity.

Thailand. Rights to culture: Heritage, language, and community in Thailand Edited by Coeli Barry Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2014. Pp. 253. Illustrations, Index.

Rights to culture: Heritage, language, and community in Thailand Edited by COELI BARRY Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2014. Pp. 253. Illustrations, Index. In her introduction to Rights to culture: Heritage, language and community in Thailand the editor Coeli Barry points out that from the 1940s until the 1980s cultural rights remained one of the most 'underdeveloped' concepts in international human rights. From the 1990s onward, however, claims of rights to and through culture have proliferated internationally (p. 1). This diversely cast volume demonstrates that the explosion of what might be called 'culture talk' has had broad and complex effects in Thailand. Its chapters demonstrate that the uses and abuses of the culture concept by a diverse range of actors exacerbates the complexity of what is a deeply contested conceptual category. Culture is used to govern the powerless and to resist the effects of power; to preserve some versions of heritage while eroding dissident traditions; and to protect and enhance some identities while dissolving or attacking others. The volume emphasises this diversity over offering a unifying theory to explain this range of phenomena. In doing so, it offers several interestingly situated vantage points from which to survey the ways the culture concept figures into a variety of struggles over belonging in contemporary Thailand. Barry's introduction frames these complexities, pointing out the broad historical contours of the relationship between culture and rights, offering a brief discussion of the relationship between culture, national identity and development in Thailand, and some thoughts on what it means to bring these concepts together in a single volume. As she points out, examinations of the relationship between culture and rights inevitably raises the question 'who decides?' (p. 20). Although the chapters cover a lot of ground, the ubiquity of this question suggests that culture, in all its contested complexity, is fundamental to Thailand's contemporary 'language of contention' (see William Roseberry, 'Hegemony, power, and languages of contention', in The politics of difference: Ethnic premises in a world of power, ed. Edwin Wilmesen and Patrick McAllister, 1996). The volume is divided into two broad sections; the first examines questions of 'culture and rights' while the second examines questions of the 'right to culture' from the perspective of minority communities. In the first chapter Alexandra Dennes and Tiamsoon Sirisrisak consider the way distinct conceptions of heritage have shaped the struggle for access to the Khmer-era temple of Phanom Rung in Buriram province. Next, Kong Chong Ho and Pompan Chinnapong examine what happens when poor urban communities make claims to space in the city through the language of heritage. The third chapter, by Bencharat Sae Chua, explores how cultural claims to environmental protection can both mobilise and limit the power of groups facing eviction from national forests. …

INVESTIGATING ‘RELEVANCY’ OF THE TRADITIONAL PRINCIPLE OF THE RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION OF OPEN SPACE AND FINA’ IN CONTEMPORARY URBAN POOR COMMUNITIES IN CAIRO, EGYPT

Many scholars have questioned ‘relevancy’ of the principles of traditional urbanism where contradictory discourses have accumulated over time especially during the past few decades but unfortunately without a reliving answer. This research is a humble attempt to question this relevancy in our modern time in the domain of urban poor communities in Cairo through investigation one of the essential traditional housing principles, namely, “the right of appropriation of open spaces and fina’”. A method of qualitative/quantitative work has been embraced in which first, the investigated principle was defined from various sources of literature, then, field investigations through multiple case studies were conducted to address the question of relevancy to the urban poor communities today. It has been found that the principle is relevant to the residents’ practices and significantly relevant to their attitudes. This opens the door for what might be considered as (re) legitimization of the principle, after considering its probable health and environmental impacts, through integrating it within the current social housing processes in Cairo and in Egypt as a whole.

What are the characteristics of 'sexually ready' adolescents? Exploring the sexual readiness of youth in urban poor Accra.

BackgroundAdolescent sexual activity, especially among the urban poor, remains a challenge. Despite numerous interventions and programs to address the negative consequences arising from early and frequent sexual activity among youth in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, only slight progress has been made. A plausible explanation is that our understanding of what adolescents think about sex and about their own sexuality is poor. In that sense, examining how adolescents in urban poor communities think about their sexual readiness, and identifying characteristics associated with that sexual self-concept dimension, should deepen our understanding of this topical issue.MethodsA total of 196 male and female adolescents, ages 12 to 19, were surveyed in the 2011 RIPS Urban Health and Poverty Project in Accra, Ghana. The youth responded to three statements which determined their levels of sexual readiness. Other background characteristics were also obtained enabling the assessment of the correlates of their preparedness to engage in sex. The data were analyzed using ordered logistic regression models.ResultsOverall, the majority of respondents did not consider themselves ready for sex. Multivariate analyses indicated that sexual experience, exposure to pornographic movies, gender, ethnicity and household wealth were significantly linked to their readiness for sex.ConclusionSexual readiness is related to sexual activity as well as other characteristics of the adolescents, suggesting the need to consider these factors in the design of programs and interventions to curb early sex. The subject of sexual readiness has to be investigated further to ensure adolescents do not identify with any negative effects of this sexual self-view.

Boy and the Candle

Boy and the Candle

Clients and Communities

India’s urban slums exhibit dramatic variation in their levels of infrastructural development and access to public services. Why are some vulnerable communities able to demand and secure development from the state while others fail to? Based on ethnographic fieldwork and original household survey data, the author finds that party networks significantly influence the ability of poor urban communities to organize and demand development. In slums with dense party networks, competition among party workers generates a degree of accountability in local patron-client hierarchies that encourages development. Dense party networks also strengthen organizational capacity and provide settlements with vertical connectivity to politicians and officials. The presence of multiparty networks, however, may attenuate the positive influence of party network density. Interviews with political elites and the survey data suggest that politicians are less likely to provide services to slums with multiparty networks. From within settlements, partisan competition also creates perverse incentives for rival networks to undermine each other’s development efforts. This article contributes to scholarship on clientelism, which has overlooked variation in the density and partisan balance of patron-client networks across poor urban communities and the resulting divergences in democratic responsiveness and development that face those communities. It also contributes to research on distributive politics and the political economy of development.

How urban poor community leaders define and measure poverty

This paper describes how urban poor community leaders in six nations (Cambodia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) worked together to define poverty, assess its causes, and suggest how best to measure it and address it. Their work drew on over a thousand detailed household expenditure surveys from different settlements in a range of cities in the six nations. Five distinct groups could be distinguished among these urban poor households, and the work suggested that two poverty lines were needed. The community leaders also reviewed national and international poverty lines and found these to be incompatible with reality, especially the US$ 1.25/person/day poverty line. The paper draws some conclusions and describes plans for the country teams to further this work, including engaging with their national governments over the definition and measurement of urban poverty.

The influence of family socialisation on the success of girls from poor urban communities in Brazil at school

The principle focus of this article is to understand the influence of socialisation in the family on the success of girls at school. Eight low-income families with children of both sexes in the city of São Paulo, Brazil were studied through interviews and observation methods. It was found that socialisation in the family favoured in girls, and not in boys, the development of behaviours that schools desire, such as discipline. It also led each sex to attribute a different meaning to school attendance, since girls had more responsibilities and fewer opportunities for socialising. The same restrictions prompted girls to aspire to further their education and have higher skilled occupations.

Formación de capital social comunitario a partir de programas orientados a combatir la pobreza en México: El impacto de Hábitat

El objetivo principal de este trabajo es presentar un analisis del impacto del Programa Habitat sobre el capital social de comunidades pobres urbanas intervenidas entre 2009 y 2012 en Mexico. Siguiendo una metodologia de evaluacion aleatoria o de tipo experimental y aplicando el metodo de diferencias en diferencias (ded) a las bases de datos resultantes de dos encuestas levantadas en mas de 11 mil hogares localizados en 33 ciudades o zonas metropolitanas del pais, se concluye que el programa impacto positivamente solo sobre una de las catorce variables que fueron construidas para integrar un indice de capital social: la confianza prevaleciente entre vecinos. Los resultados indicaron que las acciones de Habitat resultaron insuficientes para influir de manera favorable y significativa sobre otras de sus dimensiones especificas que aluden a la participacion, la cooperacion, la solidaridad, la cohesion social o el intercambio de informacion util en las comunidades, asi como en el comportamiento integral del capital social

Physical Activity, Social Skills, And Problem Behaviors In Children With Behavioral Disorders

PURPOSE:Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) are associated with impaired social functioning. Evidence suggests that physical activity may improve mental health in typically developing children. METHODS:Children with ADHD and DBD, 6-12 years-old, living in an urban poor community were randomized to a 10-week physical activity after-school program (n=19) or a comparable but sedentary attention control program (n=16). The Social Skills Improvement System (SSiS), collected at baseline and posttest, includes a social skills scale and problem behaviors scale, with eleven subscales. Intent-to-treat mixed models tested group x time and group x time x attendance interactions, correlations were run between attendance and change scores, and Cohen’s d was calculated within and between groups. RESULTS: A group x time interaction favored treatment on the internalizing subscale of the SSiS (F[1,25]=6.25, p<.05; d=1.27). A group x time x attendance interaction trended in favor of controls on the social skills scale (F[1,22]=3.30, p<.10), such that attendance to the control program was related to greater improvement in social skills over the course of the program (r=.54, p<.10) while attendance to treatment was not (r=.14, p=.66). Participants in both groups demonstrated beneficial moderate within-group effect sizes on social skills (control d=0.59, treatment d=0.43) and large within-group effects on problem behaviors (control d=1.25, treatment d=0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Findings reinforce the most widely reported mental health benefit of physical activity, namely antidepressive and anxiolytic effects; and suggest that a quality sedentary program may be more effective than a physical activity program at improving social skills, perhaps by providing greater opportunities for dialogue between children and adults. Children in both groups improved their social functioning, interrupting an expected trajectory of escalating problem severity. Findings support physical activity as a promising space for simultaneous physical and mental health promotion among children with behavioral disorders, especially in urban poor communities where obesity and ADHD/DBD are prevalent and limited resources are available to meet needs. Funded by NIH Research Grant R36 MH093152.

The Role of Geographic Factors in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Uptake Among Adolescent Girls in the United States

Abstract There has been limited research examining the role of geographic factors in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among adolescent girls. This study is one of the first to investigate and identify community-level geographic factors that may be associated with HPV vaccine uptake in the United States. We analyzed data from the 2011 and 2012 National Immunization Survey-Teen to examine associations of HPV vaccine initiation (receipt of at least one dose based on healthcare provider records) among female adolescents aged 13 to 17 years (N = 20,565) with ZIP code level geographic factors that were linked to the survey. Analyses were conducted using weighted logistic regression that included state-random effects. HPV vaccine initiation was approximately 53% in both 2011 and 2012. Racial composition and urban/rural residence were both independently associated with vaccine initiation (P = &amp;lt; 0.05). Initiation was higher among girls living in communities where the majority (&amp;gt;50%) of the population was Hispanic compared to communities where the majority of the population was non-Hispanic white (69.0% vs 49.9%; Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 1.55, 95% CI, 1.33–1.80). Girls living in high population density areas (urban) had higher HPV vaccine initiation compared to those living in low population density areas (rural) (56% vs 44.6%; AOR 1.37, 95% CI, 1.13–1.65). Initiation was also higher among girls living in the most impoverished communities compared to girls living in the least impoverished communities (61% vs 50.4%), but community-level poverty was not significant in the adjusted analysis. Higher HPV vaccination coverage in poor urban communities with a high proportion of racial/ethnic minorities may be partly attributable to targeted interventions and the continued effectiveness of the Vaccines for Children program (VFC), which provides recommended vaccines at no cost to eligible children. Learning more about factors that influence higher HPV vaccination initiation rates among certain groups might inform intervention strategies for groups with lower initiation rates.

The association of physical activity, body mass index and the blood pressure levels among urban poor youth in Accra, Ghana.

BackgroundGlobally, there is an increasing prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP) among adults and youth. However, the mechanisms of how the risk factors (physical inactivity and obesity) relate with blood pressure (BP) are not well known especially among the urban poor youth in low and middle income countries. Meanwhile childhood and adolescent physical inactivity and obesity, particularly in conditions of poverty, predispose individuals to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in later life. The aim of this study was to assess the BP levels and to examine its associations with physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) amongst urban poor youth in Accra, Ghana.MethodsWe studied 201 youth aged 15–24 years in three urban poor communities in Accra, Ghana. Height, weight and BP were measured in all subjects. PA levels were assessed using the Edulink Urban Health and Poverty project questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the factors influencing BP levels.ResultsThe proportion of pre-hypertension and hypertension among the youth was 32.3% and 4%, respectively. The rates of pre-hypertension (42.0 vs. 24.8) and hypertension (6.8 vs. 1.8) were higher in males than in females. More than three-quarters (84.1%) of the youth were not physically active. Females were more physically inactive compared to the males (94.7% vs. 70.5%). The average BMI was 22.8 kg/m2. For overweight (17.7 vs. 6.8) and obesity (13.3 vs. 2.3), females had higher rates than males. BMI was positively related to systolic BP, and significantly associated with systolic BP (β = 1.4, p < 0.000 and β = 0.8, p < 0.000; respectively for male and female youth) compared to diastolic BP. Youth with low PA had raised BP.ConclusionThe positive association of BMI and BP in the study communities suggests the need for health measures to tackle their increase and related public health consequences. Further studies on BP and other risk factors among the youth of rural populations and other developing countries will be important to stall the rising prevalence and implications for adult morbidity and mortality.

How community physical, structural, and social stressors relate to mental health in the urban slums of Accra, Ghana

Urban health in developing counties is a major public health challenge. It has become increasingly evident that the dialog must expand to include mental health outcomes, and to shift focus to the facets of the urban environment that shape them. Population-based research is necessary, as empirical findings linking the urban environment and mental health have primarily derived from developed countries, and may not be generalizable to developing countries. Thus, the current study assesses the prevalence of mental health problems (i.e., depression, perceived powerlessness), as well as their community-based predictors (i.e., crime, disorder, poverty, poor sanitation, local social capital and cohesion), among a sample of 690 residents in three poor urban communities in Accra, Ghana. It uncovers that residents in poor urban communities in developing countries suffer from mental health problems as a result of local stressors, which include not only physical and structural factors but social ones. Social capital and social cohesion show complex, often unhealthy, relationships with mental health, suggesting considerable drawbacks in making social capital a key focus among policymakers.

Social support and management of hypertension in South-west Nigeria.

SummaryIntroductionSocial support can facilitate compliance or adherence to recommended treatment regimens, especially for chronic disease management. There is little data from Africa on the role of social support in the management of chronic disease.ObjectiveThe current study investigated the relationship between social support for treatment compliance among hypertensive subjects in a poor urban community in southwest Nigeria. A second objective was identifying the correlates of social support in the study sample.MethodsThe study was a community-based, cross-sectional and descriptive study of 440 community residents (mean age 60 years, 65.2% women) from Idikan community, Ibadan, Nigeria who had hypertension.ResultsMost subjects (~ 93%) reported receiving some social support from family members and approximately 55% reported receiving social support from friends. Social support from friends (p < 0.0001) but not from family (p = 0.162) was significantly associated with good compliance with treatment for hypertension. Factors associated with receiving significant support from both family and friends included marital status and religion, while age and educational level were associated with receiving significant support from family members only. Gender was not significantly associated with receiving social support.ConclusionWe concluded that social support is strongly associated with hypertension treatment compliance in this community in south-west Nigeria. These findings suggest a need for exploring the promotion of social support as a useful tool in chronic disease treatment programmes.

Food insecurity in households in informal settlements in urban South Africa.

Food insecurity in the urban poor is a major public health challenge. The Health, Environment and Development study assessed trends in food insecurity and food consumption over a period of 7 years in an informal settlement in Johannesburg, South Africa (SA). Annual cross-sectional surveys were conducted in the informal settlement (Hospital Hill). The degree of household food insecurity decreased significantly from 2006 (85%) to 2012 (70%). There was a spike in 2009 (91%), possibly owing to global food price increases. Childhood food insecurity followed the same trend as household food insecurity. During the first 3 study years, consumption of protein, vegetables and fruit decreased by 10-20%, but had returned to previous levels by 2012. In this study, although declining, food insecurity remains unacceptably high. Hunger relief and poverty alleviation need to be more aggressively implemented in order to improve the quality of life in poor urban communities in SA.