Congregations in Low-Income Neighborhoods and the Implications for Social Welfare Policy Research

Abstract

Social scientists have an abundance of information about congregations to inform religion and social welfare policy discussions in the United States. But their data tend to come from congregations located outside low-income neighborhoods, not congregations inside them. This may limit their ability to make definitive claims, especially to policy makers, about social welfare practices and the potential of congregations located in lowincome neighborhoods to aid in poverty reduction initiatives. Are the literature's findings about social service provisions by congregations applicable to congregations located in poor places? Using a data set of congregations located in the vicinity of public housing complexes in four cities, the authors explore this question. In the process, they discern factors that influence social service provisions by congregations located in low-income neighborhoods, identifying congregation income, clergy education, and congregation residency as the most significant predictors of social service activity. The authors conclude by identifying future research directions.

Child Maltreatment Fatalities: Predicting Rates and the Efficacy of Child Welfare Policy

“…The results of our first set of analyses point strongly to the association between measures of social context and children's deaths, which provides support for the importance of poverty-elimination or poverty reduction programs (Eamon, Wu, & Zhang, 2009;Lichter & Eggebeen, 1994;Mahoney, 2006;Owens, 2005;Shobe & Boyd, 2005) and crime prevention programs (McSkimming & Berg, 2008;Organ, 2005;Papadopoulos et al, 2009;Reynolds, Temple, & Ou, 2010;Sampson, Eck, & Dunham, 2010). Our findings indicate that as poverty and crime increase, so do CMFs and as poverty and crime decrease, fewer children die from maltreatment.…”

Megachurch involvement at the local level: Examining conditions for church action in economic development

“…However, the annual operating budget of a megachurch is not associated with the number of ED activities at a statistically significant level in our findings. This is somewhat surprising considering that budgetary resources certainly influence the capacity of an organization to deliver services (Owens & Smith, ). This finding may indicate that when congregations reach a certain budgetary threshold, other factors may become more important when determining involvement in ED activities.…”

“…Overall, congregations involved in ED activities are typically larger in memberships, financial resources, and staff sizes (Owens & Smith, 2005;Reese, 2004;Reese & Shields, 2000); are led by highly educated pastors (Reese & Shields, 2000); engage in partnerships with the government (Reese, 2004); and are more likely led by African-American leadership or focused on serving in African-American communities (Littlefield, 2010;Moore, 2011;Owens & Smith, 2005;Walton, 2011).…”

The Doors of the Church are Now Open: Black Clergy, Collective Efficacy, and Neighborhood Violence

“…An abundant body of scholarship suggests that black churches can be important sources of social capital and could serve as important elements of "collective efficacy" in African American neighborhoods (Barnes 2005;Owens 2007;Owens and Smith 2005;Pattillo-McCoy 1998). Collective efficacy is generally defined as "social cohesion among neighbors combined with their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good" (Sampson et al 1997:918) and has been revealed to be inversely related to high levels of violent crime in neighborhoods.…”