Psychology and urban initiatives: Professional and scientific opportunities and challenges.

Marsella, Anthony J.; Wandersman, Abraham; Cantor, Dorothy W.

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.53.6.621

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Contributing factors include neighborhood conditions (Cohen, et al, 2003; Dalgard & Tambs, 1997; Wandersman & Nation,1998; Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Johnson, Ladd, & Ludwig, 2002), poor housing quality (Evans, Wells, & Moch, 2003; Freeman, 1984), crowding and lack of privacy (Baum & Paulus 1987; Evans & Lepore, 1993; Wener & Keys, 1988), and noise (Stansfeld, 1993), which negatively impact depression (Galea, et al 2005; Weich et al, 2002), social support (McCarthy & Saegert 1979; Evans & Lepore, 1993) and recovery from cognitive fatigue and stress (Frumkin, 2001; Ulrich, 1991). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space

Knight¹,

López²,

Comfort³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Due to the significantly high levels of comorbid substance use and mental health diagnosis among urban poor populations, examining the intersection of drug policy and place requires a consideration of the role of housing in drug user mental health. In San Francisco, geographic boundedness and progressive health and housing polices have coalesced to make single room occupancy hotels (SROs) a key urban built environment used to house poor populations with co-occurring drug use and mental health issues. Unstably housed women who use illicit drugs have high rates of lifetime and current trauma, which manifests in disproportionately high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression when compared to stably housed women. We report data from a qualitative interview study (n=30) and four years of ethnography conducted with housing policy makers and unstably housed women who use drugs and live in SROs. Women in the study lived in a range of SRO built environments, from publicly-funded, newly built SROs to privately-owned, dilapidated buildings, which presented a rich opportunity for ethnographic comparison. Applying Rhodes et al.’s framework of socio-structural vulnerability, we explore how SROs can operate as “mental health risk environments” in which macro-structural factors (housing policies shaping the built environment) interact with meso-level factors (social relations within SROs) and micro-level, behavioral coping strategies to impact women’s mental health. The degree to which SRO built environments were “trauma-sensitive” at the macro level significantly influenced women’s mental health at meso- and micro- levels. Women who were living in SROs which exacerbated fear and anxiety attempted, with limited success, to deploy strategies on the meso- and micro- level to manage their mental health symptoms. Study findings underscore the importance of housing polices which consider substance use in the context of current and cumulative trauma experiences in order to improve quality of life and mental health for unstably housed women.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space

Knight¹,

López²,

Comfort³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Drug Policy

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“…Thus, one plausible pathway by which social context may influence risk of PTSD is via shaping exposure to trauma [11, 12]. For example, exposure to assaultive violence is associated with heightened risk of PTSD compared to other traumatic events [3-5, 13] and has been found to vary by community, with markedly higher levels reported in inner city vs. suburban areas of the Detroit metropolitan area and in impoverished vs. more affluent areas of a large Mid-Atlantic city [3, 10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…NSC plausibly can influence risk of PTSD through the two pathways mentioned previously: by shaping individual exposure to trauma as well as by influencing individual vulnerability to the effects of trauma. If less cohesive neighborhoods possess characteristics that heighten risk for exposure to traumatic events—for example, by being deficient in the “informal social control” necessary to discourage crime and delinquent behavior—then such neighborhoods may amplify the individual risk of experiencing trauma [9, 11, 20, 25-27] and, thus, increase risk for PTSD [7]. Additionally, NSC may have pre- and post-traumatic influences on an individual's psychological response to trauma [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood social cohesion and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community-based sample: findings from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study

Johns

Aiello

Cheng

et al. 2012

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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Purpose Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common and debilitating. Although research has identified individual-level risk factors for PTSD, the role of macro-social factors in PTSD etiology remains unknown. This study tests whether perceived neighborhood social cohesion (NSC), measured at the both the individual and neighborhood levels, plays a role in determining past-year risk of PTSD among those exposed to trauma. Methods Data (n=1,221) was obtained from an ongoing prospective epidemiologic study in the city of Detroit. Assessment of traumatic event exposure and PTSD was consistent with DSM-IV criteria. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) logistic regression models were used to estimate the association of neighborhood-level perceived NSC with the risk of PTSD, adjusting for individual-level perceptions of NSC and other covariates. Results The odds of past-year PTSD were significantly higher among those residing in a neighborhood with low social cohesion compared to high (OR=2.44, 95%CI: 1.58, 3.78), independent of individual sociodemographic characteristics, number of traumas, and individual-level perceptions of NSC. The odds of past-year PTSD were not significantly associated with individual-level perceptions of NSC. Conclusions These results demonstrate that social context shapes risk of PTSD and suggest that changing the social context may shift vulnerability to this disorder.

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“…Its passage enabled APA to advocate for training programs and for anti-poverty legislation. APA's Committee on Urban Initiatives drew attention to the problems of urban environments as they impact mental health, social deviancy, and children's welfare in a special issue of the American Psychologist (Marsella, Wandersman, & Cantor, 1998). The American Psychologist also published a special issue "Fifty Years of Brown v. Board and Psychology" which provided an analysis of past failures and possible solutions to the issues of educational equity (Maton & Hrabowski, 2004;Weinstein et al, 2004).…”

Section: Working Differentlymentioning

confidence: 98%

Reaching Higher in Community Psychology: Social Problems, Social Settings, and Social Change

Weinstein

2006

American J of Comm Psychol

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Forty years after the founding of community psychology, we have yet to deliver on the full promissory note of our birth, where we were poised to address social problems, social settings, and social change. Despite some success, we are at risk for selling ourselves short, for dying out in the discipline of psychology, and for failing to improve the common good. Given changes in demographics and in the safety net, the problem of entrenched disparities is even more urgent-in perception of the other, in the provision of opportunities for development, and in outcomes. Envisioning and enabling will be critical as we work with unified purpose toward a cumulative science where failure will not be predictable.

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Psychology and urban initiatives: Professional and scientific opportunities and challenges.

Cited by 23 publications

References 4 publications

Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space

Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space

Neighborhood social cohesion and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community-based sample: findings from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study

Reaching Higher in Community Psychology: Social Problems, Social Settings, and Social Change

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