Community Perceptions of Safety in Relation to Perceived Youth Violence-Delinquency in a Primarily Native Hawaiian and Asian American Community in Hawai‘i

Perception of safety is an important component to the well-being of community members in their own neighborhood. The present
study was the first of its kind to model community perception of safety utilizing a primarily Native Hawaiian and Asian American
community sample (N = 101) and with perceived youth violence and delinquency as prominent potential influences. The study found that the majority
of participants felt that several types of youth violence and delinquency were problems in the community. The overall social-ecological
model evidenced a strong fit and indicated that community perception of safety was adversely impacted by perceived youth violence
and delinquency and increased through positive relations with neighbors. The implications included the need for a more comprehensive
approach to positive youth development and community capacity-building, including incorporation of cultural components, and
to determine whether the model is applicable to other minority communities.