Social capital is the glue that holds a community together. It is the network of relationships among persons that can be used to get things done. Social capital is a necessary, but not sufficient, ingredient of community building. A community must mobilize its social capital and the mechanisms of its infrastructure to face and resolve collective…

More than 4,000 people responded to a survey about community efforts to reduce substance abuse and gun violence. Six major findings were identified from the responses of 1,608 people who identified themselves as leaders of community efforts in these areas. Community leaders want significant changes in long-standing public policies and a change in…

In 1982 the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, with funding from the Ford Foundation and assistance from more than 60 local and national funders, began a neighborhood self-help crime-prevention program in 10 inner city communities. The program was based on reducing urban violence and drug abuse through youth empowerment, community revitalization,…

This fundamentally encouraging book describes programs that offer young Black males from high-risk environments the same nurturing opportunities that other young people have to develop the competencies needed for adulthood. Chapters and their authors are (1) "Introduction" (Ronald B. Mincy); (2) "Adolescent Development"…

Describes the first phase of the Urban Opportunity Program, which has studied the choices that determine lifetime opportunity for the poor and changes in the performance of urban markets and institutions that have historically supported opportunity. Characteristics of U.S. cities and future directions for the program are discussed. (SLD)

This collection describes over 340 projects in which the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) has played a role in the past two years. The CURA offers a program of research and outreach on urban problems, which brings the resources of the university to bear on the problems of urban communities.…

This report presents the findings of research and public hearings on the development of racial isolation in Miami, Florida. Maintaining that Miami's black community is isolated from the city as a whole, and that the sense of black isolation and frustration precipitated the civil disturbances in Miami in May of 1980, the report examines the causes…