Using Data to Understand Your Community

Using Data to Understand Your Community

As of 2010, the total population for Brooklyn Community District 1 is 143,092. This reflects a 7.9% increase form 2000, where there was a 2.8% increase from 1990. This population comprises 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The median age group for this population is 30.2 years old. 98.3% of this population is (1) one single race and 17.7% is (2) two or more races. The single race comprises of 4.9% Black / African American; 79.9% White; 0.3% American Indian & Alaska Native; 5.6% Asian; 0.1% Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander; and 7.5% some other race. The percentage of births from 2005 through 2010 remained the same at 19.1%, while the number of deaths declined from 5.5% to 4.6%. The percentage of income support for this population declined from 47.1% to 42.8% from 2005 through 2012. The total persons assisted declined from 75,537 to 74,011. These statistics were based on Cash Assistance (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid received.

One social problem I recognize within this community is the separation of the Jewish Community. The Hasidic community is a community within this community where there is an evident parting of community members. The Hasidic Jews communicate mostly with each other. They are not permitted to date or marry outside of their realm, where other ethnicities such as African American, Hispanic, Asian, White, etc. condone bi-racial dating. The Jewish community consists of different levels of class and status. Although the community is served by the NYC Police Department, within the Hasidic community they have their own police, as well as their own first responders like ambulances. I have personally witnessed a car accident that involved an individual of Jewish descent being hurt. She refused to be transported by the NYC emergency ambulance. She waited well over twenty minutes to be transported by their own first responders.

The political, economic, and social functioning of communities comprise of social institutions that are government supported, as well as non-government supported (Barltle, 2007). The government supported institutions are education, criminal justice, and the military. The purpose of education is to share a society’s formal knowledge and skills in a systematic way; emphasizing on learning that will contribute to a student’s future employment and citizenship (p. 33). Criminal justice is America’s formal system of social control (p. 42). There are more than 55,000 agencies at the local, state, and federal levels that often operate independently of each other (Kendall, 2005). The criminal justice system represents the parts of government that have the political directive to protect members of society. The military is a social institution that is designed to protect a nation from internal and external threats. The United States utilizes the military to protect its borders and citizens,