In the shadow of the ivory tower: An ethnographic study of neighborhood relations

Abstract

Social workers have a historic commitment to neighborhood organizing and community planning. One place where social work expertise is needed are neighborhoods adjacent to a college or university campus. These neighborhoods are home to diverse groups of residents who share a common place, but not the same degree of attachment to that place or the same sense of community. Despite the increased interest in university-community relations, there is relatively little empirical research on intergroup relations in campus-adjacent neighborhoods. This year-long ethnographic study centered on a campus-adjacent neighborhood in a small Appalachian college town in the US that is home to a mid-size public university. The study included members of five stakeholder groups in order to understand intergroup neighborhood relations and their relationship to larger institutional dynamics. The research design included semi-structured interviews, a series of focus groups, and a small Photovoice project. Textual data were analyzed in a two-step process, first using a modified holistic method, followed by a more in-depth analysis using tabular, graphic and other tools. Findings clustered in three areas: the dynamics of intergroup relations, ghettoization and studentification (a term used in the UK) and collective efficacy. The study’s findings illustrate the importance of understanding the larger community context to make sense of intergroup relations in residential neighborhoods, particularly those dominated by large institutions. In addition, the study helps to reaffirm social work’s historic commitment to neighborhood organizing and community planning as a means of resolving neighborhood tensions.