Exploring the Predictors of Citizen Participation in Substance Abuse Prevention Activities

Abstract

Few studies have examined the influences of the participatory process in which individuals engage in as they work to improve the quality of lives in their communities. More specifically, our present investigation explored the relationship between various contextual factors that predict citizen participation in substance abuse prevention activities among a random sample of urban residents (n=283) who participated in a community-wide policing initiative in the Southwestern United States. A hypothesized path model was tested that included person (concerns with violence victimization and attributions of drug abuse), situation (perceived responsiveness to drug crime), and environment-related predictors (perceived neighbourhood incivilities and awareness of neighbourhood substance abuse problems) of citizen participation. Findings suggest that individuals who perceived higher levels of neighbourhood incivilities tended to have higher levels of participation in substance abuse prevention activities. Interestingly, however, individuals with greater perceived neighbourhood substance abuse problems also tended to perceive that police were less responsive to drug crime in their neighbourhoods. Program developers and public health practitioners should consider the individuals' perception of the neighbourhood environment on citizen participation and include activities designed to address public perception of police responsiveness to crime.

Communitarianism and youth empowerment: Motivation for participation in a community‐based substance abuse prevention coalition

“…Although coalition members provided rich descriptions of their experiences, their success in facilitating change was not investigated. However, previous research has found a strong SOC aids in making these changes (Reid et al., ).…”

“…This is largely a result of a top‐down mentality, in which the community member is not viewed as an expert in their community's well‐being. However, it is the expertise of these community members that facilitates change (Reid et al., ). Studies demonstrate that when community members participate in community organizations in which they are autonomous collaborators, they tend to have higher levels of empowerment (Christens et al., ; Milligan & Fyfe, ).…”

“…Neighborhood SOC has largely been documented to positively affect well-being (e.g., Garcia- Reid et al, 2013;Gattino, Piccoli, Fassio, & Rollero, 2013), including increasing civic participation (Mammana-Lupo, Todd, & Houston, 2014;Reid, Forenza, Lardier, & Garica-Reid, 2017). Hughey, Peterson, Lowe, and Oprescu (2008) further identified community organization SOC as a catalyst for increasing empowerment.…”

An examination of ethnic identity as a mediator of the effects of community participation and neighborhood sense of community on psychological empowerment among urban youth of color

“…This view of community participation highlights its role as a predictor of PE and a potential contributor in the empowerment process (Eisman et al, 2016;Speer et al, 2012). Nonetheless, community participation comes in a variety of forms, which include engaging in substance abuse prevention activities (Reid, Forenza, Lardier, & Garcia-Reid, 2017), volunteering, engaging in school activities, or taking part in other organizational or civic activities, such as writing a letter to a newspaper (Chan, Ou, & Reynolds, 2014) or improving the physical conditions of the environment (Wandersman & Florin, 2000).…”

The Role of Empowerment-Based Protective Factors on Substance Use Among Youth of Color

“…This perspective is in opposition to viewing youth of color as capable of engaging in prevention programming that not only limits drug and alcohol use, but focuses on empowering these young people to facilitate systemic social change in their own community-i.e., specific to drug and alcohol use . Emancipatory approaches to prevention are needed that focus on critical awareness, ethnic identity development, and empowerment (Lardier, 2019;Reid, Forenza, Lardier., & Garcia-Reid, 2017). Such approaches may both mitigate substance use and allow youth to bring about social change in their community; therefore, contributing to the larger sociopolitical environment and being actors of change.…”