Neighbourhood houses and bridging social ties

Involvement in associations, it is then proposed, allows for the inter- mingling of people and the creation of ties that bridge social cleavages of class, gender, race, and ethnicity. [...] A Focus on vArieties oF involvement One explanation for the persistence of both the integrating and sorting hypoth- eses is that varying types of voluntary associations have different implications for the diversity of network ties. [...] The mixed results suggest both the fruitfulness of refining hypotheses concerning association membership and network diversity and the need for further research. [...] Following past theory and research we expect this type of involvement to be associated with more tolerance of difference in the pursuit of particular goals and to develop more diverse network ties as a result. [...] They keep their doors open for long hours so that all members of the community can drop in to use their facilities, with the intention of being the focal point of the community (Irving, Parsons, and Bellamy 99 ).