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Building strong communities: an evaluation of a neighborhood leadership program in a diverse urban area
Author(s) -
Ayón Cecilia,
Lee Cheryl D.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.20343
Subject(s) - scholarship , ethnic group , qualitative research , intervention (counseling) , medical education , psychology , applied psychology , nursing , sociology , medicine , political science , social science , anthropology , law
The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate an intervention used to train neighborhood leaders about community organizing and to enhance leadership skills. A mixed‐method design was used which included (a) a pre‐ and posttest assessment of 83 participants, and (b) qualitative descriptive interviews of 33 participants. Over half of the participants in the study were from ethnic minority groups (Latino or Cambodian). At posttest assessment, the participants improved in leadership skills ( p =.001) and experience ( p =.001) subscales. The qualitative interviews revealed that participants continued to be active in their communities by implementing neighborhood programs or starting community organizations. It is recommended that community practitioners and activists support neighborhood leadership programs to foster growth and enrichment in communities, and researchers/practitioners evaluate these projects with multiple methods to broaden scholarship in this important arena. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.