Attitudes about Violence in a Hispanic Community

Familias en Accion is a participatory action research project focusing on family violence prevention in a Hispanic community of San Antonio, Texas. The community has mixed income households, with violence a primary area of concern identified by parents, teachers and residents. Members of the Community Coordinating Council were trained in data collection techniques, received IRB training and conducted the baseline community survey. The 379 respondents had a mean age of 49 years; 69% were women; 71% had high school or greater education; 28% worked full-time, and 72% owned their own homes. Analysis from instruments not previously validated in Hispanic populations included:

Scale (# of items) Cronback's Possible Average alpha Range Score Attitudes about violence (7) .77 0-28 35 Experience with violence (3) .91 0-12 1.47 Neighborhood block conditions (12) .83 0-42 10.5 Collective efficacy (9) .91 10-50 16.21

Preliminary bivariate analysis suggests that younger respondents had greater experience with violence, and women more positive attitudes about gender equity. Contrary to reports in the literature, this Hispanic community did not have positive correlations between collective efficacy, neighborhood conditions and experiences.