Neighborhood Action/Willingness to Intervene

Abstract

The Neighborhood Action/Willingness to Intervene scale, originally developed by Perkins, Florin, and Rich in 1990 and subsequently adapted by the Houston Community Demonstration Project in 1993, is a concise assessment tool designed to measure the perceived likelihood that residents and their neighbors will intervene in various problematic situations occurring on their residential block. This instrument assesses critical aspects of collective efficacy related to maintaining public order and safety within a neighborhood setting. It uses a three-point scoring system where higher total scores indicate a greater expressed willingness to engage in neighborhood action and intervention regarding issues ranging from minor nuisance (e.g., loud music) to serious threats (e.g., drug sales or gun violence).

Keywords

Neighborhood Action, Willingness to Intervene, Collective Efficacy, Community Intervention, Residential Environment, Crime Prevention, Social Control, Community Psychology.

Authors

Dennis D. Perkins, Paul Florin, Robert C. Rich, Abraham Wandersman, David M. Chavis (Original 1990 Study), Houston Community Demonstration Project (1993 Adaptation).

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Neighborhood Action/Willingness to Intervene scale is to quantify the level of informal social control operating within a specific residential area. It serves as a measure of perceived neighborhood competence—the shared belief among residents that they, collectively, can address and resolve local problems and maintain order without relying solely on formal authorities.

The scale is instrumental in research focusing on the relationship between the social environment of residential blocks and outcomes such as crime rates and community participation. By assessing intervention likelihood across a spectrum of issues, researchers can better understand the factors that predict successful community organizing and effective crime prevention efforts.

Construct

The central construct measured is Collective Efficacy, specifically focusing on the component of “Willingness to Intervene” or “Informal Social Control.” Collective efficacy refers to the neighborhood’s shared belief in its capability to achieve desired results, such as controlling disruptive behavior or preventing crime. This construct is fundamental to understanding how neighborhood social dynamics contribute to stability and safety.

The scale operationalizes this construct by presenting residents with hypothetical scenarios requiring communal action. The responses reflect the respondent’s perception of both their own potential action and the expected action of their neighbors, thereby capturing the collective sense of responsibility and capability essential to Community Psychology research and neighborhood health assessments.

Validity

Specific detailed metrics regarding construct, convergent, or discriminant validity for this six-item adaptation are not explicitly provided in the source compendium entry. However, the original 1990 study by Perkins et al. established the conceptual validity of measuring neighborhood participation and intervention likelihood as key factors influencing crime reduction and the maintenance of a positive social environment of residential blocks.

Researchers typically utilize this measure because of its strong face validity, as the items directly query behavioral intentions related to neighborhood maintenance and safety, which are core components of informal social control models widely accepted in urban sociology and community research.

Reliability

The source documentation does not include specific internal consistency metrics (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) for the six-item scale adaptation used by the Houston Community Demonstration Project. Users intending to employ this scale should consult the original 1990 Perkins et al. publication for detailed psychometric properties of the broader instrument set from which these items were derived, or conduct local reliability checks prior to large-scale deployment.

Factor Analysis

Specific findings from a factor analysis on this six-item set are not detailed in the available source material. Given the small number of items and the unified focus on intervention likelihood across varying levels of threat, the scale is typically treated as a unidimensional measure of perceived willingness to intervene, aligning directly with the core concept of neighborhood collective efficacy related to maintaining public order.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire measuring perceived behavioral likelihood.

Format: Six-item scale utilizing a 3-point Likert Scale response format. Point values are assigned as follows: Not at all likely=1, Somewhat likely=2, Very likely=3. Scores are summed and then divided by the total number of items to yield a mean intervention score.

Language Available: English (based on source material).

Population Group: Adult residents within specific neighborhood or residential block settings.

Age Group: Adults (18+).

Population Details: Originally utilized in studies examining residential blocks and community participation, including the Houston Community Demonstration Project, focusing on violence prevention and social order maintenance.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the likelihood that they or their neighbors would intervene in six distinct problematic scenarios. Blank items should not be counted in the number of responses when calculating the average score. Higher mean scores indicate a stronger perceived collective willingness to intervene.

Keywords

Informal Social Control, Community Participation, Urban Studies, Crime Reduction, Residential Blocks, Vandalism, Public Order, Social Disorder.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Unknown/Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Unknown/Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Refer to the original publication: Perkins DD, Vanderbilt University (1990).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale originated from the research published in 1990 (Perkins et al.) and was adapted in 1993 by the Houston Community Demonstration Project. Specific fees for use are generally not associated with measures published in academic journals and public health compendiums, though citation of the original source is mandatory for academic integrity.

The instrument is publicly accessible through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) compendium, Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools, where it appears on page 356. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Reference’s

Perkins DD, Florin P, Rich RC, Wandersman A, Chavis DM. Participation and the social and physical environment of residential blocks: crime and community context. American Journal of Community Psychology 1990;18(1):83-115.

Houston Community Demonstration Project. Houston, TX: City of Houston Health and Human Services Department, 1993.

The original research paper PDF is available online: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/perkins/files/2011/09/Perkins-et-al.1990.Participation-the-social-physical-environment-of-residential-blocks.AJCP_.pdf

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Items of the Neighborhood Action/Willingness to Intervene

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. If some 10 to 12 year-old youths were spray painting a street sign on the block, how likely is it that you or some of your neighbors would tell them to stop?
2. If a suspicious stranger was hanging around the block, how likely is it that you or some of your neighbors would notice this and warn others to be on guard?
3. If someone on your block was playing loud music, how likely is it that you or some of your neighbors would ask them to turn the music down?
4. If teenagers were fist-fighting on your block, how likely is it that you or some of your neighbors would attempt to stop it?
5. If someone on your block was firing a gun, how likely is it that you or some of your neighbors would do something about it?
6. If drugs were being sold on your block, how likely is it that you or some of your neighbors would do something about it?