Social Class and Tactics: Neighborhood Opposition to Group Homes

This analysis of community opposition to group homes for the mentally handicapped uses data from a survey of New Jersey group home providers. It indicates that deteriorating neighborhoods are most likely to organize in opposition, but that upper-middle class neighborhoods are most likely to enjoy private access to local officials and can, therefore, lobby effectively in opposition to group homes in their neighborhoods. Generally, lower and lower-middle class neighborhoods do not have lobbying privileges and must rely on mass-mobilization, petition campaigns, and other public political tactics that are less effective in influencing local officials. If, however, they gain access to local officials and secure lobbying privileges, they are no less successful than their upper-middle class counterparts in influencing them.