This study examines the relationship between academic performance and a number of contextual factors for African American freshmen in an urban setting. Living arrangements, relatives and friends’ religiosity, exposure to academic success, and neighborhood perceptions were analyzed to investigate their impact on intention to complete school, grade point average (GPA), and number of suspensions. Results indicate that gender, church attendance by peers, and percentage of relatives completing high school were significant in predicting positive academic outcomes. Perception of neighborhood deterioration was inversely related to intention for school completion and GPA. School suspensions were positively related to perception of neighborhood deterioration. Implications for interventions are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aaronson, D. (1997). Sibling estimates of neighborhood effects. In J. Brooks-Gunn, G. J. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty (Vol. 2, pp. 80-93). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
2.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211.
3.
Akers, R. L. (1994). Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
4.
Alexander, K. L. , & Entwisle, D. R. (1988). Achievement in the first two years of school: Patterns and processes. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 53(2, Serial No. 218).
5.
Anderson, E. (1990). Streetwise: Race, class, and change in an urban community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
6.
Anderson, E. (1999). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city (1st ed.). New York: Norton.
7.
Bachman, J. G. , Johnston, L. D., & O’Malley, P. M. (1993). Monitoring the future: Questionnaire responses from the nation’s high school seniors, 1992. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research.
8.
Bachman, J. G. , Johnston, L. D., & O’Malley, P. M. (1998). Monitoring the future: A continuing study of American youth (12th-grade survey) [Computer file]. Ann Arbor: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan.
9.
Bahr, S. J. , Maughan, S. L., Marcos, A. C., & Li, B. (1998). Family, religiosity, and the risk of adolescent drug use. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(4), 979-992.
10.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
11.
Bankston, C. L. , & Caldas, S. J. (1998). Family structure, schoolmates, and racial inequalities in school achievement. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(3), 715-723.
12.
Benda, B. B. (1997). An examination of a reciprocal relationship between religiosity and different forms of delinquency. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 34(2), 163-186.
13.
Bradburn, N. M. , & Sudman, S. (1988). Polls and surveys: Understanding what they tell us. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
14.
Brooks-Gunn, J. , Duncan, G. J., Leventhal, T., & Aber, J. L. (1997). Lessons learned and future directions for research on the neighborhoods in which children live. In J. Brooks-Gunn, G. J. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty (Vol. 1, pp. 279-297). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
15.
Brooks-Gunn, J. , Guo, G., & Furstenberg, F. F., Jr. (1993). Who drops out of and who continues beyond high school? A 20-year follow-up of Black urban youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 3(3), 271-294.
16.
Cairns, R. B. , Cairns, B. D., & Neckerman, H. J. (1989). Early school dropout: Configurations and determinants. Child Development, 60, 1437-1452.
17.
Carter, D. J. , & Wilson, R. (1993). Minorities in higher education. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
18.
Case, A. , & Katz, L. (1991). The company you keep: The effects of family and neighborhood on disadvantaged youths (Working Paper No. 3705). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
19.
Chiswick, B. R. (1988). Differences in education and earnings across racial and ethnic groups: Tastes, discrimination, and investments in child quality. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 103(3), 571-597.
20.
Cochran, J. K. (1993). The variable effects of religiosity and denomination on adolescent self-reported alcohol use by beverage type. Journal of Drug Issues, 23(3), 479-491.
21.
Conger, R. , Ge, X., Elder, G., Lorenz, F., & Simons, R. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents. Child Development, 65(2), 541-561.
22.
Crane, J. (1991). The epidemic theory of ghettos and neighborhood effects on dropping out and teenage childbearing. American Journal of Sociology, 96(5), 1226-1259.
23.
Donahue, M. J. , & Benson, P. L. (1995). Religion and the well-being of adolescents. Journal of Social Issues, 51(2), 145-160.
24.
Duncan, G. J. , & Raudenbush, S. W. (1998). Neighborhoods and adolescent development: How can we determine the links? (Joint Center for Poverty Research Working Paper No. 59). Retrieved from http://www.jcpr.org/wp/WPprofile.cfm?ID=59
25.
Ensminger, M. E. , Lamkin, R. P., & Jacobson, N. (1996). School leaving: A longitudinal perspective including neighborhood effects. Child Development, 67(5), 2400-2416.
26.
Entwisle, D. R. , Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. (1997). Children, schools, and inequality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
27.
Evans, T. D. , Cullen, F. T., Burton, V. S., Jr., Dunaway, R. G., Payne, G. L., & Kethineni, S. R. (1996). Religion, social bonds, and delinquency. Deviant Behavior, 17(1), 43-70.
28.
Fine, M. (1991). Framing dropouts: Notes on the politics of an urban public high school. Albany: State University of New York Press.
29.
Free, M. R., Jr. (1992). Religious affiliation, religiosity, and impulsive and intentional deviance. Sociological Focus, 25(1), 77-91.
30.
Freeman, R. B. (1986). Who escapes? The relation of churchgoing and other background factors to the socioeconomic performance of Black male youths from inner-city tracts. In R. B. Freeman & H. J. Holzer (Eds.), The Black youth employment crisis (pp. 353-376). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
31.
Furstenberg, F. F., Jr. (1993). How families manage risk and opportunity in dangerous neighborhoods. In W. J. Wilson (Ed.), Sociology and the public agenda (pp. 231-258). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
32.
Furstenberg, F. F., Jr. & Hughes, M. E. (1995). Social capital and successful development among at-risk youth. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 580-592.
33.
Greenberger, E. , Chen, C., & Beam, M. R. (1997). The role of “very important” nonparental adults in adolescent development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 27(3), 321-343.
34.
Grusec, J. E. (1992). Social-learning theory and developmental psychology: The legacies of Robert Sears and Albert Bandura. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 776-786.
35.
Haveman, R. , & Wolfe, B. (1995). The determinants of children’s attainments: A review of methods and findings. Journal of Economic Literature, 33(4), 1829-1878.
36.
Hawkins, B. D. (1996). Gender gap: Black females outpace Black male counterparts at three degree levels. Black Issues in Higher Education, 13(10), 20-22.
37.
Heath, S. B. , & McLaughlin, M. W. (1994a). The best of both worlds: Connecting schools and community youth organizations for all-day, all-year learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(3), 278-300.
38.
Heath, S. B. , & McLaughlin, M. W. (1994b). Learning for anything everyday. Journal of CurriculumStudies, 26(5), 471-489.
39.
Herrnstein, R. J. , & Murray, C. (1994). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: Free Press.
40.
Hogan, D. P. , & Kitagawa, E. M. (1985). The impact of social status, family structure, and neighborhood on the fertility of Black adolescents. American Journal of Sociology, 90(4), 825-855.
41.
Irvine, J. I. , & Irvine, R. W. (1995). Black youth in school: Individual achievement and institutional/cultural perspectives. In R. E. Taylor (Ed.), African-American youth: Their social and economic status in the United States (pp.129-142). Westport, CT: Praeger.
42.
Jargowsky, P. (1997). Poverty and place: Ghettos, barrios, and the American city. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
43.
Jencks, C. , & Mayer, S. (1990). The social consequences of growing up in a poor neighbor-hood. In L. E. Lynn & M. G. H. McGeary (Eds.), Inner-city poverty in the United States (pp. 111-186). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
44.
Jeynes, W. H. (1999). The effects of religious commitment on the academic achievement of Black and Hispanic children. Urban Education, 34(4), 458-479.
45.
Johnson, B. R. , Jang, S. J., De Li, S., & Larson, D. (2000). The “invisible institution” and Black youth crime: The church as an agency of local social control. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29(4), 479-498.
46.
Kaufman, P. , Kwon, J., & Klein, S. (1999). Dropout rates in the United States: 1998 (National Center for Education Statistics No. 2000-022). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
47.
Kendler, K. S. , Gardner, C. O., & Prescott, C. A. (1997). Religion, psychopathology, and substance use and abuse: A multimeasure, genetic-epidemiologic study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(3), 322-329.
48.
Lerner, R. M. , & Galambos, N. L. (1998). Adolescent development: Challenges and opportunities for research, programs, and policies. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 413-446.
49.
McLanahan, S. S. , & Sandefur, G. (1994). Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
50.
Miller Cribbs, J. , Davis, L. E., & Johnson, S. (in press). Listening to African-American students: An exploratory analysis of factors that foster school engagement and completion. Social Work in Education.
51.
Nash, J. K. , & Bowen, G. L. (1999). Perceived crime and informal social control in the neigh-borhood as a context for adolescent behavior: A risk and resilience perspective. Social Work Research, 23(3), 171-186.
52.
National Center for Education Statistics . (1996). Urban schools: The challenge of location and poverty (NCES 96-184). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
53.
Peterson, R. D. , Krivo, L. J., & Harris, M. A. (2000). Disadvantage and neighborhood violent crime: Do local institutions matter?Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 37(1), 31-63.
54.
Pollard, J. A. , Hawkins, J. D., & Arthur, M. W. (1999). Risk and protection: Are both necessary to understand diverse behavioral outcomes in adolescence?Social Work Research, 23(4), 145-158.
55.
Rubin, R. H. , Billingsley, A., & Caldwell, C. H. (1994). The role of the Black church in working with Black adolescents. Adolescence, 29(114), 251-266.
56.
Salem, D. A. , Zimmerman, M. A., & Notaro, P. C. (1998). Effects of family structure, family process, and father involvement on psychosocial outcomes among African-American adolescents. Family Relations, 47(4), 331-341.
57.
Sandefur, G. D. , McLanahan, S., & Wojtkiewicz, R. A. (1992). The effects of marital status during adolescence on high-school graduation. Social Forces, 71(1), 103-121.
58.
Sanders, M. G. (1998). The effects of school, family, and community support on the academic achievement of African-American adolescents. Urban Education, 33(3), 385-409.
59.
Stiffman, A. R. , Hadley-Ives, E., Elze, D., Johnson, S., & Dore, P. (1999). Impact of environment on adolescent mental health and behavior: Structural equation modeling. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69(1), 73-86.
60.
Sutton, S. (1998). Predicting and explaining intentions and behavior: How well are we doing?Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(15), 1317-1338.
61.
U. S. Bureau of the Census . (1992). Census of the population: General population characteristics, United States, 1990. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
62.
U. S. Bureau of the Census . (1999). Statistical abstract of the United States: 1999 (119th ed.). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
63.
Waggoner, D. (1991). Undereducation in America: The demography of high school dropouts. Westport, CT: Auburn House.
64.
Wahler, J. , Kreutzer, J., & MacPhee, D. (1996, March). Neighborhood and ethnicity as contexts for children’s perceptions of peer support. Poster presentation at the Society for Research on Adolescence 1996 Biennial Conference, Boston.
65.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
66.
Wilson, W. J. (1996). When work disappears: The world of the new urban poor (1st ed.). New York: Knopf.
67.
Zimiles, H. , & Lee, V. E. (1991). Adolescent family structure and educational progress. Developmental Psychology, 27(2), 314-320.
68.
Zimmerman, B. J. (1995). Attaining reciprocality between learning and development through self-regulation. Human Development, 38(6), 367-372.
