ABSTRACT
Th eoretical Perspectives on Social Conditions and Resilience to Stress ..................................................................................... 302 Social Structure and the Stress Process .......................................................... 304
Neighborhood Contexts ............................................................................... 305 Perceptions of Structural Conditions ......................................................... 306
Th e Military Base as Neighborhood ................................................................ 307 Community Capacity ........................................................................................ 308 Community Capacity and Resilience ...............................................................310 Methods ................................................................................................................310 Results ...................................................................................................................313 Discussion ............................................................................................................314 References .............................................................................................................315
Th e study of stress and resilience evolves from a long and rich history of scientifi c inquiry into the nature and causes of nonphysical phenomena considered as possible causes of disease and behavioral dysfunction. Interest in the relationship between social structural conditions and stress dates back at least to the nineteenth century, when George Beard and others began to examine the role of society as a contributor to mental illness (Cooper & Dewe, 2004). Traditionally, social structure is defi ned as enduring patterns of behavior among groups, organizations, or society as a whole (Giddens, 1984). Th e resulting conditions that are derived from these patterns of behavior can range in scope from social relationships among members of a group or
