Charlie Collins co-authors top-cited paper in Journal of Urban Affairs

transforming social cohesion

IAS faculty member Charlie Collins co-authored the top-cited paper in the Journal of Urban Affairs in 2018: “Transforming social cohesion into informal social control: Deconstructing collective efficacy and the moderating role of neighborhood racial homogeneity.” Drawing on collective efficacy and social disorganization theories, the article found a positive relationship between social cohesion (i.e. shared values, solidarity, and mutual trust among neighbors) and informal social control (i.e. residents' readiness to take action on issues that affect their neighborhoods), and that this relationship was strengthened within more racially homogeneous neighborhoods.