In this chapter, Sampson studies how collective efficacy, social altruism , and cynicism affect communities. By examining previous research, along with his own research, Sampson discovers that there is a definite link between these three issues. Sampson discovers that in the best communities, levels of collective efficacy and social altruism are high, while social cynicism is low. In struggling communities of poverty, these levels tend to be reversed. I found it interesting to read about the CPR and lost letter experiments and how the results from these experiments correlated with the collective efficacy Sampson had mapped for various neighborhoods throughout Chicago.
The issue that I found of particular interest was that of social altruism. In this chapter, Sampson discovers that the communities with high levels of social altruism typically had better health and over all wellbeing. He illustrates this concept in figure 9.2 of the text. Homicide and teenage birthrates are significantly lower in communities with strong social altruism. Based on Sampson's findings, I decided to look up articles that research the link between strong social altruism and good health.
My first source, from the Journal of Gerontology, examines how altruism relates to the health of ethnically diverse adults. The study examines the belief that social support and high social altruism results in lower morbidity rates, across various ethic groups. In the article titled, "Altruism Relates to Health in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Older Adults", researchers collected data through face-to-face interviews with 1,118 older adults from Brooklyn, New York. The researchers produced data by using a demographic questionnaire, the CARE (Comprehensive Assessment and Referral Evaluation instrument, and various databases. Through the analysis of the compiled data, they were able to show that there is a positive link between the giving of social support and low morbidity. Interestingly enough, the researchers also state that "reciprocity was not a significant predictor of morbidity." This is an interesting highlight of the study. It suggests that issuing social altruism is much more significant in prolonging life than receiving social altruism.
My second source examines the effects of social altruism on mental health. I decided that the mental side of health would be an interesting avenue to explore, considering how much mental health has been cited in recent criminal acts across the country. In the article titled, "Altruistic Social Interest Behaviors Are Associated With Better Mental Health", the researchers mail out questionnaires to participants selected from various religious communities to collect their data. This study found that both giving and receiving help correlated with better metal health. Like the previous study, the link between giving help was a more significant predictor of better overall health. In the discussion of this study, they state the following, "Our findings suggest that helping others is associated with higher levels of mental health, above and beyond the benefits of receiving help and other known psychospiritual stress, and demographic factors."
Both of the studies I reviewed find, like Sampson, that communities benefit from high levels of social altruism. However, the studies I researched suggest that the benefits might not be from what you'd expect. The more substantial benefit is connected to the giving of altruistic behaviors rather than receiving them. This was somewhat surprising to me. This suggests that when neighbors within a community are helping other people in their community, they are in turn helping themselves most. I can definitely see how this could foster a positive environment for the growth of collective efficacy and trust within a community. All of these things in turn can contribute to better community health overall, as Sampson simply illustrates at the end of the chapter in figure 9.3.
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