This research will examine participation in neighborhood associations in two adjacent urban poor neighborhoods with different rates of participation. Both neighborhoods are in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the research is to identify those factors and conditions that lead residents of urban poor neighborhoods to participate in voluntary community activities and those that inhibit their participation. Previous research finds that group membership and participation in community-based activities among urban poor blacks has dropped precipitously since the 1960s. Explanations for this decline have centered on a loss of social capital in these neighborhoods. Yet, several questions remain unresolved. This research is will address two of these questions: (1) Why does one urban poor community have a relatively high rate of participation, while a similar urban poor community has a low rate of participation? (2) Why do some individuals in these communities participate while others do not? Through an integration of theories from the social movement and social capital literatures, a conceptual framework is developed that operates at multiple levels to explain participation in neighborhoods. Rather than attempting to explain neighborhood participation as a function of individual, organizational, or neighborhood characteristics as most existing studies do, this study investigates how factors at all three levels (individual, organizational and neighborhood) work together to shape participation. Observation of resident participation in neighborhood associations in the two Birmingham neighborhoods will occur over a 12 month period. In-depth interviews with a random sample of 60 residents from the two neighborhoods will be conducted, along with interviews of leaders of each neighborhood organization. This research will advance the current state of the literature on the activation and maintenance of community participation. Currently, the social movement literature provides explanations of why and how collective action occurs, while the social capital literature provides explanations of the underlying factors that account for the relationship between participation and network ties. Neither of these literatures, however, has attempted to provide an explanation of how individuals living in disadvantaged neighborhoods are motivated to engage in neighborhood participation at the local level or how they are inhibited from doing so. The research will have broader impacts in a variety of ways. For instance, by identifying the factors and conditions that lead residents of urban, poor neighborhoods to participate in community activities or not to participate, policy makers and community activists can understand more fully how neighborhood participation can be enhanced. City governments can use this research to create more effective alliances with community leaders and organizations in urban poor neighborhoods. And residents themselves may be provided with opportunities for participation within their own neighborhoods that should allow for a higher quality of life. Economically disadvantaged neighborhoods exist in most American cities and are not well understood by the larger community. These neighborhoods tend to be viewed as dangerous places inhabited by dangerous and/or apathetic residents. Results from this study can expand our understanding of poor neighborhoods and the residents of these neighborhoods, thereby making an important societal contribution.
