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signify that a close-knit community is an effective promoter of unified action toward safe, crime-free
communities. Yet another mechanism, pro-social behavior, may indicate that frequent, surface level
interaction (i.e. participation in voluntary organizations) reduces neighborhood disorder. We suggest that
collective efficacy, pro-social behavior and strong neighborhood networks may all contribute to an
individual’s perception of disorder.
In this paper we use the Columbus (Ohio) Neighborhood Study (henceforth CNS) to test the
effectiveness of different types of community social organization and interaction on impressions of
neighborhood disorder. The CNS is the only data set that we are aware of to include network measures,
collective efficacy measures, neighborhood involvement measures, and perceived disorder measures. To
this end, these data are uniquely suited to look at the effect of different types of social interaction on
disorder.
CONCEPTUAL ARGUMENT
A Social Approach to Collective Efficacy
Neighborhood-level collective efficacy models suggest that a social trust and proclivity towards
the communal good results from the willingness among neighborhood residents to act upon perceived
neighborhood values (Sampson et al. 1997; Sampson et al. 1999; Morenoff et al. 2001; Browning et al.
2003; Browning et al. 2004). Thus, collective efficacy is an emergent property of individuals with varying
attachment to one another enforcing informal social control. Sampson and Raudenbush (1999) argue that
neighborhoods combine two mechanisms to control crime and other types of disorder. Specifically,
neighborhoods are able to control disorder through “cohesion among residents” and “shared expectations
for public space” (Sampson and Raudenbush 1999; 603).
Once established, residential cohesion and shared expectations for a community can operate to
create social networks and social capital between residents. Research in both social capital and collective
efficacy show positive benefits to individuals and communities occur when residents work together to
control disorder (Colman 1988; Portes 1998; Coleman 1998; Sampson et al. 1997; Sampson et al. 1999).
Under the collective efficacy model, perceived cohesion promotes positive benefits for residents through
Convention