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Mill Street Loft Case Study

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Despite their limited resources, Mill Street Loft has been striving to serve the community in any manner feasible, and use the arts as an outlet for reaching into Poughkeepsie and Beacon. MSL crafted four programs in order to make a difference in the lives of impoverished children. These programs include Project ABLE: a paid job training session during the summer, that focuses on the arts. PASWORD: a collaborative outreach program with Poughkeepsie middle school, designed to impact women. Habilidad: an after-school program meant for Hispanic children, providing job a life skills training, as well as an education in the arts. Lastly, Project AWARE: a program in Beacon specifically for at risk eleven to fifteen-year-old girls who work to become …show more content…

Sampson defines collective efficacy as “social cohesion and shared expectations for control”. (152) This theory builds upon the acceptance of social disorganization theory, where social control is a prevalent issue, pertaining to everyone living in a community. In order to find control, collective efficacy will be encouraged, in order to unite the neighborhood and help them to work together for the common good and well-being, thus, reducing the crime and violence. Sampson however, says that in order to do this, the individuals at hand do not need to engage with the local police. Instead, he says, “institutional mechanisms may be sufficient”, meaning, there are other outlets to do the right thing. (152) One common everyday challenge people face monitoring children while they pay and being willing to intervene and address an issue. MSL already embraces this technique while conducting their programs. When the students come into the studios, they are instructed and guided, and if any problem or behavioral issues occurred, MSL would use the opportunity to educate them. Teaching children how to properly behave while they are young will positively impact them in the …show more content…

Economic segregation has lead to many negative implications for those living in separate areas. Often times they are limited in terms of institutions that support collective efficacy. Mill Street Loft could work to empower young people to join the community and help make it better through their programs. Perhaps they could even do community outreaches and paint Main Street, or clean up a park and display a piece of artwork they have created. If people see a positive change in the city they will inevitably want to help and in turn, gain more control over the negative aspects of the city. This ties in with the “broken windows” theory; if Poughkeepsie continues to benefit from MSL’s work and the city is cleaned up, crime rates may decrease, in part because of the theory and due to the people working together to unite Poughkeepsie. If the community is knit together (social cohesion) the social order will follow. Another area presenting a challenge to collective efficacy is immigration. Many people who are new to this country are lacking a sense of community and a place in the environment. If MSL could cultivate a deep sense of belonging within Habilidad, the kids would likely get involved and in time, this purpose would influence the

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