Citation

Swart LA, Ismail G, Seedat M. J. Community Psychol. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jcop.22905

PMID

35700399

Abstract

While community participation may serve as a vehicle to improve health and socioeconomic outcomes for residents in poor communities, little research exists on the individual factors that influence community participation, particularly in contexts where violence is exceptionally high. This study examined the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, perceptions, and experiences of violence, neighborhood attachment, and community participation in a low-income, under-resourced neighborhood in Johannesburg South Africa. The study used baseline data from 300 randomly selected households and multiple linear regression to assess the relationship between individual factors and community participation. The results suggest a high level of community participation, with religious organizational membership the most common. Being female, employed, and fear of violent crime were positively associated with community participation. Future research should include mixed methods and transdisciplinary research approaches for building our understandings of social justice and transformation-oriented community participation.

Language: en

Keywords

South Africa; violence; attachment; community participation; low-income; neighborhood; sociodemographic