Social network access and growth: Building relational resilience for street crew-involved men through a community-based intervention.

Abstract

Gun violence disproportionately affects New York City's poorest neighborhoods, with gang-related incidents comprising approximately half of the shootings in these communities. Traditional law enforcement approaches have shown limited effectiveness, prompting development of community violence interventions (CVIs) that target high-risk individuals through holistic programming. Project Restore (PR), a 12-month CVI serving 30 men from two rival street crews, achieved notable success with all participants completing the program without new arrests for violent acts and the community experiencing a 28% greater than expected reduction in shooting incidents. This study examines how PR influenced participants' social networks to better understand potential mechanisms underlying these violence reduction outcomes. Using mixed methods, Study 1 employed qualitative content analysis of post-intervention interviews with 25 of the 30 PR participants to examine relationship changes across three Social Brain Hypothesis levels: Support Clique (family), Sympathy Group (peers, mentors), and Active Network (professional connections). Study 2 conducted social network analysis with a purposely selected subset of six participants-three influential crew leaders from each of the two rival groups who engaged in cross-gang collaboration focused on community peacebuilding-examining social network changes pre- and post-intervention. Results demonstrated substantial network expansion and transformation that may help explain PR's previously documented violence reduction success. Study 1's broader sample revealed improved family relationships, enhanced peer communication skills, and expanded community engagement across all participants. The six influential leaders in Study 2 reported an 11.7-fold increase in social connections, with marked growth in mentor relationships and professional connections. Most notably, the six leaders from previously disconnected rival crews became interconnected, indicating successful cross-crew collaboration. These social network transformations may help account for PR's violence reduction success by facilitating prosocial norm diffusion within resistant social structures. Unlike traditional approaches that sever social ties, PR demonstrates how existing gang networks can be leveraged to promote positive change through systematic social network strengthening.