Although there is a growing body of research based on social disorganization theory that relates the neighborhood context to juvenile crime and delinquency, it is unknown whether neighborhood social processes operate in a similar way across all types of disadvantaged neighborhoods. It is possible that some social processes are unique to economically depressed areas. This research attempts to explain theoretically and test empirically the relationships between neighborhood social structure, social processes, delinquent opportunity structures, and rates of adolescent delinquency among structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods. The hypotheses are tested using neighborhood-level parent and youth data from 44 Denver neighborhoods. A series of regression models are constructed to estimate the effects of the neighborhood on rates of delinquency. The results show that for this high-risk sample the most consistent predictor of rates of problem behavior is youths' perceptions of limited opportunities for the future.
Aber, J.L., Gephart, M.A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Connell, J.P. (1997). Development in context: Implications for studying neighborhood effects. In J. Brooks-Gunn, G. J. Duncan, & J. L. Lawrence (Eds.), neighborhood poverty (Vol. 1, pp. 44-61). New York: Russell Sage.
2.
Agresti, A. & Finlay, B. (1997). Statistical methods for the social sciences (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Bendel, R.B., & Afifi, A.A. (1977). Comparison of stopping rules in forward regression . Journal of the American Statistical Association, 72, 46-53.
4.
Bronfenbrenner, U., Moen, P., & Garbarino, J. (1984). Child, family, and community. In R. Parke (Ed.), Review of child development research: Volume 7: The family (pp. 283-328). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cloward, R., & Ohlin, L. (1960). Delinquency and opportunity. New York: Free Press.
7.
Coulton, C.J., Korbin, J., Su, M., & Chow, J. (1995). Community level factors and child maltreatment rates. Child Development, 66, 1262-1276.
8.
De Coster, S., Heimer, K., & Wittrock, S.M. (2006). Neighborhood disadvantage, social capital, street context, and youth violence. The Sociological Quarterly, 47, 723-753.
9.
Duncan, G.J., Connell, J.P., & Klebanov, P.K. (1997). Conceptual and methodological issues in estimating causal effects of neighborhoods and family conditions on individual development. In J. Brooks-Gunn , G. J. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty: Context and consequences for children (Vol. 1, pp. 219-250). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Duncan, T.E., Duncan, S.C., Okut, H., Strycker, L.A., & Hix-Small, H. (2003). A multilevel contextual model of neighborhood collective efficacy. American Journal of Community Psychology , 32, 245-252.
11.
Duncan, G.J., & Raudenbush, S.W. (1999). Assessing the effects of context in studies of child and youth development. Educational Psychologist, 34(1), 29-41.
12.
Elliott, D.S., Ageton, S.S., & Canter, R.J. (1979). An integrated theoretical perspective on delinquent behavior. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 16(1), 3-27.
13.
Elliott, D.S., Menard, S., Rankin, B., &. Elliott, A. (2006). Good kids from bad neighborhoods: Successful development in social context. New York: Cambridge University Press.
14.
Elliott, D.S., Wilson, W.J., Huizinga, D., Sampson, R.J., Elliott, A., & Rankin, B. (1996). The effects of neighborhood disadvantage on adolescent development. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 33, 389-426.
15.
Esbensen, F., & Huizinga, D. (1990). Community structure and drug use: From a social disorganization perspective. Justice Quarterly, 7, 693-709.
16.
Esbensen, F., Huizinga, D., & Menard, S. (1999). Family context and criminal victimization in adolescence . Youth & Society, 31, 168-198.
17.
Farnworth, M., Thornberry, T., Krohn, M., & Lizotte, A. (1994). Measurement in the study of class and delinquency: Integrating theory and research. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 31, 32-61.
18.
Furstenberg, F., Cook, T.D., Eccles, J., Elder, G.H., & Sameroff, A. (1999). Managing to make it: Urban families and adolescent success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
19.
Hawkins, J.D. (1996). Delinquency and Crime. Cambridge University Press.
20.
Haynie, D.L., Silver, E., & Teasdale, B. (2006). Neighborhood characteristics, peer networks and adolescent violence. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22, 147-169.
21.
Henderson, V.L., & Dweck, C.S. (1990). Motivation and achievement. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 308-329). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
22.
Henry, D.B., Tolan, P.H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (2001). Longitudinal family and peer group effects on violence and nonviolent delinquency. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 172-186.
23.
Huizinga, D., Esbensen, F.A., & Weiher, A.W. (1991). Are there multiple paths to delinquency? Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82, 83-118.
24.
Hunter, A. (1985). Private, parochial and public school orders: The problem of crime and incivility in urban communities. In G. D. Suttles & M. N. Zald (Eds.), The challenge of social control: Citizenship and Institution building in modern society (pp. 230-242). Norwood, NJ : Ablex.
25.
Jarjoura, G.R., Triplett, R.A., & Brinker, G.P. (2002). Growing up poor: Examining the link between persistent childhood poverty and delinquency. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 18, 159-187.
26.
Kingston, B. (2005). The effects of the neighborhood on adolescent delinquency and drug use. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.
27.
Kobrin, S. (1951). The conflict of values in delinquency areas. American Sociological Association, 95, 922-963.
28.
Kornhauser, R. (1978). Social sources of delinquency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities. New York : HarperCollins.
29.
Larzelere, R.E., & Patterson, G.R. (1990). Parental management: Mediator of the effect of socioeconomic status on early delinquency. Criminology, 28, 301-324.
30.
Lattimore, C.B., Mihalic, S.F., Grotpeter, J.K., & Taggart, R. (1998). Blueprints for violence prevention. Book Four: Quantum opportunities program. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
31.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). Children and youth in neighborhood contexts. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(1), 27-31.
32.
Ludwig, J., Duncan, G.J., & Hirschfield, P. (1998). Urban poverty and juvenile crime: Evidence from a randomized housing-mobility experiment. Unpublished manuscript, GeorgetownPublic Policy Institute.
Morenoff, J.D., Sampson, R.J., & Raudenbush, S.W. (2001). Neighborhood inequality, collective efficacy, and the spatial dynamics of homicide. Criminology, 39, 517-560.
35.
O'Loughlin, J.L., Paradis, G., Gray-Donald, K., & Renaud, L. (1999). The impact of a community-based heart disease prevention program in a low-income, inner-city neighborhood. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 1819-1826.
36.
Patterson, G., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1984). The correlation of family management practices and delinquency. Child Development, 55, 1299-1307.
37.
Peterson, R.D., Krivo, L.J., & Harris, M.A. (2000). Disadvantage and neighborhood violent crime: Do local institutions matter? Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency, 37, 31-63.
38.
Rankin, B.H., & Quane, J.M. (2002). Social contexts and urban adolescent outcomes: The interrelated effects of neighborhoods, families, and peers on African-American youth. Social Problems, 49, 79-100.
39.
Raudenbush, S.W., & Sampson, R.J. (1999). Ecometrics: Toward a science of assessing ecological settings, with application to the systematic social observation of neighborhoods . Sociological Methods and Research, 29, 1-41.
40.
Sampson, R.J. (1992). Family management and child development. In J. McCord (Ed.), Facts, frameworks, and forecasts: Advances in criminological theory (Vol. 3, pp. 63-93). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing.
41.
Sampson, R.J. (1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 227-244.
42.
Sampson, R.J., & Groves, W.B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774-802.
43.
Sampson, R.J., & Lauritsen, J. (1994). Violent victimization and offending: Individual, situational, and community level risk factors. In A. J. Reiss, Jr. & J. A. Roth (Eds.), Understanding and preventing violence: Social influences (Vol. 3, pp. 1-114). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
44.
Sampson, R.J., Morenoff, J.D., & Gannon-Rowley, T. (2002). Assessing "neighborhood effects": Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28, 444-478.
45.
Sampson, R.J., Raudenbush, S.W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918-924.
46.
Shaw, C.R., & McKay, H.D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
47.
Short, J.F., & Strodtbeck, F.L. (1965). Group process and gang delinquency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Smith, D.A., & Jarjoura, G.R. (1988). Social structure and criminal victimization. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 25, 667-703.
50.
Spergel, I.A. (1964). Street-gang work: Theory and practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
51.
Williams, D., & Collins, C. (1995). U. S. socioeconomic and racial differences in health: Patterns and explanations. Annual Review Sociology , 21, 349-386.
52.
Wilson, W.J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
53.
Wilson, W.J. (1991). Studying inner-city social dislocations: The challenge of public agenda research. American Sociological Review, 56, 1-14.
54.
Wofford, S., Elliott, D.S., & Menard, S. (1994) Continuities in marital violence. Journal of Family Violence, 9, 195-225.
