What Is Safety to You? Determining an Inductive Conceptualization of Neighborhood Safety Through Centering the Voices of Community Residents

Abstract

BackgroundInductive explorations of neighborhood safety are a notable gap in neighborhood effects research. Thus, the current study explores resident definitions of safety and safety threats in urban, suburban, and rural communities.ObjectiveTo reveal urban residents’ phenomenological conceptualizations of neighborhood safety and perceptions of law enforcement as a safety support and/or a safety threat.MethodsThe researchers conducted semi-structured focus groups with community residents across three counties to gather evidence of what makes them feel safe and unsafe in their communities.Findings/ConclusionsThematic analysis generated five themes of what makes residents feel safe, what they perceived are safety threats, and what they believe law enforcement officers do to promote safety. The article concludes with implications for urban social work practice and research.