Measurement of Social Processes at the Neighborhood Level in Baltimore City

Abstract

Small‐area ecological research is critical to inform place‐based interventions at the neighborhood level; however, objective measurement of the social context has been limited. The current study extends the application of the Neighborhood Inventory for Environmental Typology (NIfETy) through the development and evaluation of measures of social context for a longer period of observation (3 years) and at a larger area of aggregation (census tract clusters) compared to previous studies using measures at the block‐face level from a single observation. Observations from the 172‐item inventory were collected from a random sample of block faces (n = 793) in Baltimore City annually over a three‐year period. Through a multistep process including replication of previous measures, data reduction, and factor analysis, six unique neighborhood‐level indices were generated to describe the environmental context: drug and alcohol use, violence, physical disorder, epicenter, youth activity, and improvements. An assessment of measurement consistency and validity provided support for some indices, while others had notable limitations. These indices can assist local policymakers and public health practitioners assessing the needs of individual neighborhoods and evaluating the effectiveness of place‐based interventions designed to improve the neighborhood environment and population health outcomes.

Black Emerging Adults’ Critical Consciousness and Perceived Neighborhood Quality

“…Though neighborhood quality has been conceptualized as multidimensional, neighborhood disorder has received disproportionate attention in the neighborhood perceptions literature. Much of the research about Black residents’ neighborhood perceptions focuses on the negative impacts of deleterious neighborhood conditions on their well-being, such as high crime and drug activity, blighted buildings, and suspicious people and behavior (Elo et al, 2009; Williams et al, 2020). The importance of studying the impacts of neighborhood disorder on Black urban residents’ well-being is undeniable.…”