Neighborhoods: A Community Analysis

Just hearing the word neighborhood is enough to bring anyone back to childhood memories, and there is a nostalgic sense behind the word neighborhood. In the physical sense, a neighborhood is the grouping of homes that make up the demographics in which a person resides. Neighborhoods are also considered a social community in which a person feels a sense of identity and belonging. Often within neighborhoods, the members share common interests, values, characteristics and economic status. Because residents share the same small community and living area, they also share many of the same concerns regarding safety, education, and crime within their community or neighborhood. The function and structure of the neighborhood can be examined through two

This community is able to do so because the residents are highly involved with each other and can identify themselves as part of the neighborhood. The interpersonal community promotes social connectedness therefore; opens the social interaction to other’s social class, resident’s identity and the community linkage various in the neighborhood. Members of solidarity communities reinforce their connectedness through shared rituals, holidays, festivals and evocations of a common history (Kirst-Ashman, 2014). When a community has solidarity cultural pride and ethnic identity are the two fundamentals that unite the community. By the community having a high interest in interpersonal interaction, social connectedness and identification within the neighborhood; is how they can accept various ethnicities and social class amongst residents. The Interpersonal interaction conceptual framework identify and highlights the neighborhood strengths through the connections and support that the community has with each other. The community interaction and the socialization of the people within the neighborhood are also strengths are present and highlights interpersonal interaction framework within the neighborhood. The people of this preferred framework value their neighborhood and are strongly connected to each other, and often have access or connected to

There were many different ways to define a neighborhood but the concept is the same. Kirst-Ashman gave an in-depth analysis on different types of neighborhoods, how different theories can be applied to them, and what influences them. Togetherness within a neighborhood or any group of individuals is very important. In the Ted Talks video by Theater Gates he stated that what seems necessary in cities like Akron, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan, and Gary, Indiana, is that there are people in those places who already believe in those places, that are already dying to make those places beautiful, and that often, those people who are passionate about a place are disconnected from the resources necessary to make cool things happen, or disconnected from a contingency of people that could help make things happen. When groups of people are able to find commonalities and unite these are healthy relationships needed to help communities and neighborhood thrive. As social workers we have the ability to empower neighborhoods with the resources needed for connections, strength and