Urban poverty

My research on this topic has focused on personal networks, the mechanisms behind "neighborhood effects," and, most recently, formal organizations. A paper with Katherine Newman evaluated research on neighborhood effects and argued for the difference between instrumental and socialization mechanisms. My first book argued that whether neighborhood poverty undermines people's social relations depends on conditions---even cultural conditions---that vary substantially among persons, neighborhoods, and cities. In this vein, a series of papers (2006, 2007, forthcoming) have shown that "ghettos" are much more diverse than many scholars suggest.

My latest studies have examined (a) organizational density and (b) organizational networks. In several papers (2005, 2006) I have tested and questioned the proposition that poor neighborhoods tend to have lower organizational density---fewer banks, grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, and other establishments---than non-poor neighborhoods. In other papers (2006, 2008), and in my forthcoming book, Unanticipated Gains, I have examined the extent to which people use their organizational networks to acquire the information and resources lacking from their personal networks. I have shown that routine organizations such as childcare centers often act as brokers of important resources among the poor and non-poor.