The Final Countdown

Since the beginning of Robert Sampson's study, we have identified, evaluated and found correlations in the communities. by looking at these many trends, we have gained valuable insight to trends in social altruism, collective efficacy and crime. over time we have also seen changes that were unexpected but in some senses predictable. Communities are always changing, by being proactive, leaders with responsibility will be able to combine and work together to make the change positive. If people are not proactive there will not be any positive change in the community. Communities are tied to the past so long as they remember the past. Many communities remember the past because of tragedy. The reasons communities forget abou the past could be for a plethora of reasons, they are ashamed of it, they think it to be insignificant, they think that have become better than they were in the past and let pride own their ego or the simply do not feel it is part of their past. what ever the reason be, those who do not remember their past are doomed to repeat it. I feel this is the difference between the twenty first century community and a twenty second century community. for those who have advanced they have remember what struggles they overcame to progress, while those who do not progress fall victim of repeating the past.

Lets take a look at the communities that are thriving. They have good sound citizens that have stable jobs and low crime rate. They also have a relatively stable level of collective efficacy and social altruism. While looking at this I think of the community where I was raised. I knew my neighbors and their children, when something happened, the whole community knew about it and in the future took measures to prevent it. But the question is what can be done to help improve those communities that are stuck in a rut in the past, of as I say in the Rolling, Rolling, Rolling Effect. Sampson proposes the idea of community level intervention. At the beginning of the semester we identified the a few way people were trying to escape the Rolling Effect. Some were dong fundraisers, other participated in awareness campaigns while some took matters into their own hands and fixed up homes for people to move into. I feel this is all good, but can be improved.

Change is a very intricate operation that has to be managed in a professional and proactive manner. First, a leader needs to be established. This leader needs to be cool and collected and have the ability to be a wise, observant decision maker taking all parties into consideration. Next, a spokesperson needs to be chosen. this spokesperson could be the leader, but the leader needs a sidekick and this is who it should be. He is not only responsible for taking care of the press, but he also needs to be completely in accordance with the leader and have the ability to motivate and inspire greatness in the followers. Finally, the third person or persons are the followers. for change to happen, there needs to be a group of common people that share the dream of the leader. The leader and the spokesperson should be two community elites that have influence among their fellow elites.

Lets now take a foreign developing country like Tanzania, a country that I am studying, and put these people into a situation where change is needed. In Tanzania there is a huge need for schooling about schistosomiasis and malaria. If two people would get together and present a plan for an individual community and be able to sell it to that community, we would see people preparing for the future instead of responding to the present. Education I feel is the key to having success in undeveloped countries. As people become more educated, we see that they make the final countdown from the impoverished state that they are in, to a state of stability and coordinated efforts to improve living situations.

The Vision

Looking at communities I agree with Sampson that each is different and reacts differently to different situations and experiences. No community will be identical to another in its response to any insignificant or spectacular event. I believe time molds communities into who they are, what they stand for and for whom they fight. Lets take for example the tragedy that took place in the neighborhood of Thomas Wortham. Thomas was an outstanding citizen that had served his country and city. He wanted to make a change because he genuinely cared about the people he served. The reason he cared for them I believe is because he served them with all his heart, might, mind and strength. His dream was to rid the community of any unlawful, corrupt, evil and hateful deed or crime. He had "Vision". The tragedy that beset him caused the community to arise and form a magnificent union that could only be formed by the loss of a hero. I believe that because they lost one who cared for them and had vision, they were united. I believe that in many communities they do not have a hero to look up to and adopt their vision. This causes a loss of collective efficacy and social cohesion in the community. Death to a hero is almost always sudden and dramatic. This combination is very effective in raising moral and enabling groups to gather and protest or look for a way to change their situation. However I believe that it is self-control and character that keep the group united and organized. those who do not exert self-control, fail to reach their goals!

As Far as my research goes, I am trying to refine my question. As I expressed in my last two posts I would like to look at some aspect of obesity, education and self-control and find a connection to how it plays a role in what I term the Rolling, Rolling, Rolling Effect (the entrapment of citizens into poverty). I am still looking for research that shows a strong correlation between the three ideas. I Have also started to look into the developing country of Tanzania where a majority of the citizens are literate but they still are the fourth country in the world to experience death by HIV. If there is a correlation between literacy and education on overall health, this country would not support the theory that the more educated the people the less they are affected by an illness that many developed countries have overcome.