The Effects of Local Stressors on Neighborhood Attachment

Various studies have hypothesized that neighborhood attachment — defined as a multidimensional concept composed of attitudes, neighboring, and problem solving — is linked to local stressors in ways that vary by the type of attachment under examination. My study analyzes the effects of four stressors on six dimensions of attachment and shows that social and physical disorder as well as experiences with victimization and crime do not uniformly decrease individual neighborhood attachment. Social disorder has the most widespread negative impact on different types of neighborhood attachment. My results also show that victimization and perceptions of crime affect only problem solving; indeed, they actually increase this form of attachment. This finding suggests that a multidimensional approach to neighborhood attachment is useful, especially when applied to theories of social disorganization and loss of community.