Graduation Year
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Anthropology
Major Professor
Susan Greenbaum
Co-Major Professor
S. E. Bird
Keywords
coaching, deconcentration, HOPE VI, public housing, recreation centers, sports
Abstract
This dissertation explores the impact of housing and recreation policy on Tampa's urban youth. Deconcentration policy suggests that public housing youth have improved life chances when relocated to mixed-income neighborhoods. In 2007, Tampa's Central Park Village (CPV) public housing complex was demolished and all families were relocated to new neighborhoods. Similarly, neoliberal policy advocates for the government's reduced role in poverty-alleviating mechanisms to include housing the poor and the funding of afterschool programs. To offset a smaller city budget due to state property tax rollbacks in the mid-2000's, Tampa Parks and Recreation instituted increased afterschool and youth sports participation fees. In the dissertation, I examine how these policy changes affect both former CPV youth and Tampa urban youth in general. In addition, this dissertation examines the role of mentors (coaches) in urban neighborhoods and coaches' perceptions of newly instituted recreation policy.
Scholar Commons Citation
Mervis, Brett A., "Wrecking Recreation Center Relationships: How policy affects urban youth in Tampa, Florida" (2012). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/4372
