DECISION MAKING AND CONFLICT IN AN URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF THREE ISSUES

This is an observational study of community interaction and decision making processes in a San Francisco neighborhood. A number of theoretical approaches to community conflict are reviewed, specifically the work of James Coleman and William Gamson. The structure of the City, neighborhood, and interest groups is described. Then three specific issues of conflict within the neighborhood serve as cases where community conflict was observed. The first case involved the attempts by a group of people to restore a local park. The second case involved the attempts of local institutions, hospitals, to expand their facilities in the community and the resistance to that expansion. The third case involved conflict over a proposed community cultural center. Each of these cases was analyzed to see what it could show about the processes of conflict and methods used to reach goals. The theoretical orientations of Coleman and Gamson were analyzed in the light of these observations, and they were found inadequate to understand the processes of conflict and decision making within these contexts. Finally the observations were used to develop a model of community group decision making and conflict. It was found that there was a culture of community activism acting to maintain diversity of neighborhood characteristics and a positive residential nature. The process of change in the issues, the role of the Federal Government, and the personal energy of the leaders is also discussed