Understanding Social Disorganization and the Nonprofit Infrastructure: An Ecological Study of Child Maltreatment Rates

Abstract

Advocates and researchers have emphasized the role of disorder in neighborhood processes, with serious consequences for families, however, neighborhood structures may also support families and reduce child maltreatment. Nonprofits maintain a range of strategies to support nearby families, including direct services, facilitation of social networks, and formalizing advocacy for increased attention from government. Using agency data on child maltreatment, nonprofit locations, and indicators of social disorganization, this article studies the role of nonprofit organizations in the spatial distribution of child maltreatment among Cuyahoga County Ohio census tracts ( N = 442). Accounting for spatially structured and tract-specific variation with a hierarchical Poisson model implemented through a Bayesian methodology, the results indicate the presence of nonprofits is a protective factor: negatively associated with child maltreatment (posterior mean: −0.18, CI: −0.34, −0.03), with heterogeneity by type. The study highlights neighborhoods as a propitious site of intervention and emphasizes the intra-county distribution of nonprofits.