Community acceptance of an emergency shelter for youths in the city of Victoria
Date
1989
Authors
Kotila, Daphne Roberta
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Abstract
Community-based residential care in a family-like atmosphere for service dependent populations is not a new development, and until recently, has not been particularly controversial. However, since the 1970s, the concept of community care has been universally promoted as an alternative to institutionalization. But this approach to specialized residential care is not always being achieved within a climate of community acceptance. The goodwill and support of the general public is seen as vital to the movement's ultimate success.
In addressing this complex and controversial issue, this thesis provides a neighbourhood evaluation of one special type of residential care facility, an emergency shelter for troubled adolescents. This facility, the Kiwanis Youth Shelter, became established in an inner neighbourhood of the City of Victoria, British Columbia, in a climate of public opposition. A questionnaire survey of neighbourhood residents was conducted by telephone and in-home interviews, six months after the facility's establishment. Two target populations were selected for interview: (1) a self-selected group comprising residents who signed a petition of objection; and, (2) a stratified sample of non-objecting residents. The final survey sample totalled 126 respondents, representing 24 per cent of the target population. The questionnaire contained a wide range of questions on: (1) living conditions, and (2) pre-establishment and post-establishment reaction to the shelter. An integrated quantitative/qualitative research approach was used, not only to provide for more methodological rigour, but also to facilitate a depth of perception that neither could provide alone.
The survey results revealed that over half of the respondents were totally unaware of the shelter; and awareness of the facility declined significantly beyond two city blocks of the subject property. A high degree of resident support, both preĀ- and post-establishment, was found in close proximity to the shelter. The majority of respondents expressed pragmatic views associated with the utilitarian function of the shelter. Eight of the nine petition objectors interviewed had a complete change of attitude towards the shelter concept, and most expressed postĀ-implementation attitudes that were highly positive. Attitudes towards the facility were as much influenced by personality factors, as by the character of the environment itself. The initial vocal resident opposition (in the minority) was found to rapidly dissipate on the shelter's establishment, transforming a "heated" issue into a non-issue.