FROM ISOLATION TO COMMUNITY: EXPLORATORY STUDY OF A SENSE-OF-COMMUNITY INTERVENTION.

This exploratory pilot study analyzes the role a facilitated neighborhood intervention, geared towards meeting one's neighbors and discussing local needs and civic action, can play in moving individuals from isolation to community. It focuses on whether NeighborCircles (NC), a neighborhood intervention run by a nonprofit in Massachusetts, is associated with increases in social capital (SC); the main constructs used are Perkins and Long's (2002) 4 dimensions of SC (sense of community [SOC], collective efficacy, neighboring, and participation), with a primary focus on SOC. Surveys and interviews with a majority Latino sample group reveal NC is associated with reported increases in all 4 dimensions of SC. The author concludes by considering what may have led to these reported increases, as well as implications for both future research about and experimentation with similar interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]