Neighborhood and Community Characteristics: The social ecology approach emphasizes the view that certain social and physical characteristics of neighborhoods and communities influence the likelihood of committing deviance and crime. Imagine that you are in a position as a community leader. There are several neighborhoods in your community with:

high poverty rates

low quality housing

single parent households

Which issue would you address first, and what strategies would you propose to address this issue?

The first issue to be solved would definitely be low-quality housing. Poverty rates are just figures that do not necessarily address a concrete, specific issue whereas housing is the fundamental issue of every human being.

A decrepit house, will further bury its dweller in poverty since it will inevitably translate into poor isolation during winter and summer, meaning higher utility bills for heating or air conditioning and several associated health risks (pneumonia, heat insulation, dust pollution, noise pollution, pest pollution that carries diseases, contamination and/or putrefaction of food perishables), psychological hardship that can cause grave mental problems due to the extreme smallness of the habitat or its extreme ugliness due to structural decrepitude.

There is also the issue of social alienation due to the disrepute of such a dwelling and the social stigma it carries. Old housing that is no longer compliant with progressive building codes for fire prevention or disability or emergency services access is also a bad environment for its inhabitants and finally security is also a great concern since a dwelling that is not secure will leave its occupants and their property defenseless in the case of a burglary or an aggression to the person or his/her property.

Good quality housing is a fundamental need and right of any human being and it allows him/her to have a place where to accumulate possessions that will facilitate daily living, education at home, work at home, health, social integration and general well-being.

A person who lives in a good home will normally be a lot more productive, independent and self-reliant than a person who lives in a shack in a slum. The proof of this is the people who work and live in their cars or even in airports, without a home they will always be stuck in their situation despite that fact that they work, which is an absolute social aberration.

Those who are unemployed and homeless will never be able to get out of their situation without a housing solution that allows them to prepare to compete in the job market.