Abstract
Background/Context: The United States is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, and increasingly racially isolated across race-ethnic boundaries. Researchers have argued that both diversity and racial isolation serve to undermine the social cohesion needed to bind American citizens to one another and to society at large.
Focus of Study: Given the compelling and consistent findings relating desegregation to social inclusion, this research posits that the issue of declining social trust and social cohesion may be better understood as a consequence of segregation and social isolation within communities rather than as a consequence of variations in diversity across communities. Thus, this study examines the relationship between social cohesion (social distance) and social isolation (race-ethnic segregation) at the institutional level-in schools and neighbor-hoods. Thus, in the present study, social distance, which reflects both weak connections among ethnically diverse groups in society and limited "bridging capital," serves as our operational indicator of social cohesion.
Participants: Participants in this study come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, a national probability sample of approximately 4,000 first-time students entering selective colleges and universities in 1999. Equal numbers of African American, Latino, Asian, and White students were sampled from 28 participating institutions, which resulted in an oversampling of minority students to provide meaningful comparisons across each of the major race-ethnic groups.
Research Design: This study examines the effects of early racial isolation in schools and neighborhoods on social cohesion (i.e., preference for same-race neighbors, preference for
