09201 Mitigating deterioration in a community

Community deterioration is a cooperative endeavor between the larger “mega-forces,” individuals living in that community and the leadership they elect. In a fascinating article that looks at altruism, Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D. of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, Texas (Twemlow, 2001) and his colleagues outlines the systemic spiraling cycle of deterioration within a community that contributes to its further demise. These cycles can be seen, for example, in economic job loss, which intensifies the demand for chemical distractions, which promotes drug trafficking, which increases the incidents of violent crime. Crime increases fear, which increases isolation and detachment, out of concerns that one will be victimized. Trauma and stress shrinks the mind set to our most immediate concerns, and broader perspectives such as community cohesion and compassion, become viewed as too distant to contemplate. Self-concerns and those of one’s own immediate family become sole priority. — Dr. Kathy McMahon

The process of deterioration in a community is well documented. It is studied both by social scientists and by businesses and politicians that want to benefit from the deterioration or even the total destruction of a community.

It’s not always a random one-thing-leads-to-another-it’s-nobody’s-fault situation. Sometimes community deterioration is deliberately set in motion so that land can be bought cheap from the present owners and converted to other uses by those with access to political power.

Dr. Kathy McMahon, a/k/a the Peak Oil Shrink, has an interesting way to describe the beginning of the process in her essay, Pathways to Community Collapse: Can We Intervene?, available online at http://www.peakoilblues.org/blog/?p=1375. She writes —

In the home, it is the “pair of socks on the living room floor” that begins to communicate to the residents, however unconsciously, that “no order need reign here.” In the community, we might see broken street lights, potholes that aren’t repaired, or litter blight. In the early stages, people stop celebrating occasions that were symbolically significant. They cancel the yearly town cookout for “lack of funds.” Religious practice and community involvement decline. Drug abuse and domestic violence start to increase. Violence invades the schools. Dropping out of the education system becomes “cool.”

McMahon goes on to note 14 key elements of community deterioration:

Personal power comes from violence.
Immediate gratification is the rule.
Stable family and political systems go missing.
Powerlessness, despair, anomie are omnipresent.
Escapism rules.
Bully-victim-bystander relationships proliferate.
Denial and scapegoating are common.
Police become corrupt.
Social welfare programs are cut
Population redistributes
Crime pays and this is obvious and flagrant.
The vulnerable are abused and rejected
Gender, ethnic, and religious conflicts multiply.
Anti-intellectual attitudes prevail.

At some point in this process, any identifiable local community dies and what is left is simply a collection of human beings inhabiting a particular section of real estate, without any beneficial connections with each other and with many negative and harmful connections with each other.

Intervene Early if Possible.

The place to intervene is as early in the process as can be managed. As with any disintegrating system, the longer the devolution continues, the harder it is to make positive changes. Often, the political solution is to bulldoze the neighborhood and sell it to businesses who make good campaign contributions. Indeed, this process may be initiated by corrupt alliances between businesses and politicians who want to get the lands of the poor without paying market prices in a way that will evade existing community defense mechanisms.

In the early 2000s, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation wanted to build a freeway through a low income neighborhood in Oklahoma City. During the run-up to the actual decision, when community support was divided in the affected neighborhood, crack houses began to proliferate in the area. Curiously, the police could not do anything about the problem. The consequent degradation in the quality of life in the neighborhood drove people to support the freeway project because “at least it would get rid of the crack houses” — by paving them over with 10 lanes of freeway.

Start by picking up the trash.

When in doubt about a place to begin an intervention to reverse a declining neighborhood, start by picking up trash. Litter is always a major problem in deteriorating neighborhoods and it is an easy problem to deal with. One person or family picking up litter can lead to a neighborhood crusade against litter, which in turn can be the nucleus of a community organization to deal with other issues of the area.

It’s important to start small, and to pick something like litter that can be easily accomplished, so that the first experience of the nascent group is positive. Litter doesn’t talk back. Picking up litter is not a controversial activity. Supplies (such as trash bags) may be available from your city or from non-governmental organizations.

Organize the Community

Community organizations — civil society — are primary defenses against community deterioration. One powerful tool for organizing is to develop a coalition of organizations in a given area. See 07051 Community Organizing for more details.

Pursue Relationships

The most effective community organizations are built on relationships, which begin with the telling of individual stories and deep listening. This process cannot be rushed. It takes time but it is well worth the investment.

Build Resilience.

Use the Seven Habits of Personal, Family, and Community Resilience, found in 09151, as a checklist to build the capacities of your community organizing efforts.