The NIMBY phenomenon: Community residents' concerns about housing for deinstitutionalized people

This article reports the findings of a study on community opposition to gro up homes in Montreal, Canada. This qualitative study set out to explore the underlying dynamics of what happens when a community rejects a group home. With the use of a naturalistic paradigm, three actual incidents of communi ty opposition were studied. Nineteen interviews were conducted with communi ty residents, elected officials, and group home developers. Community resid ents did not support deinstitutionalization and social integration policies and argued against group homes. The findings of this study never reported before in previous research, have important implications for social workers and social planners.