Adolescents' exposure to community violence: are neighborhood youth organizations protective?

Abstract

Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), we identified a significant inverse association between the variety of youth organizations available at the neighborhood level and adolescents’ exposure to community violence. We examined two non-competing explanations for this finding. First, at the individual level, we tested the hypothesis that access to a greater variety of neighborhood youth organizations predicts adolescents’ participation in organized community-based activities, which, in turn, protects against community violence exposure. Second, at the neighborhood level, we tested the hypothesis that lower violent crime rates explain the inverse relation between neighborhood youth organization variety and community violence exposure. Our findings supported the latter of these two mechanisms.

Examining gendered pathways in the causal chain linking neighborhood navigational strategies and unstructured socializing to adolescent violent offending

“…Alternatively, for male youths who tend to spend free time on the streets in unstructured, unsupervised activities, engagement in available neighborhood youth organizations should be encouraged. These organizations can provide productive outlets during non-school hours (Halpern, 2002), means to improve academic achievement, resources to promote positive self-regulation, and avenues to prevent aggressive behavior (Gardner & Brooks-Gunn, 2009). Questions surround the effectiveness of neighborhood youth organizations (after-school programs, in particular) in preventing adolescent delinquency (see Taheri & Welsh, 2014).…”

Do Age Effects on Youth Secondary Exposure to Violence Vary across Social Context?

“…Gardner & Brooks-Gunn, 2009;Gibson et al, 2009;Kuo et al, 2000). The inclusion of these variables protects against model misspecification and confounding.…”

“…The survey included ten types of exposure to community violence: seeing someone attacked with a weapon; seeing someone attacked without a weapon; having something stolen from the household; having a friend, neighbor, or family member murdered; witnessing a murder; witnessing or hearing a shooting, bombing, or riot; being in a war zone; knowing a family member or close friend who was fondled or forced to have sex; knowing a family member or close friend who was robbed or mugged; and knowing a family member or close friend who was threatened with a gun or knife. 1993; Gardner & Brooks-Gunn, 2009;Gibson et al, 2009;Richters & Martinez, 1993;Selner-O'Hagan et al, 1998; see also Buka et al, 2001). In fact, research has shown that age accounts for approximately 25% of the variation in lifetime exposure to community violence (see Selner-O'Hagan et al, 1998).…”

“…Not surprisingly, research has found a strong correlation between exposure to community violence and neighborhood conditions such as urbanity and poverty (Fitzpatrick & Boldizar, 1993;Gardner & Brooks-Gunn, 2009;Gibson et al, 2009;Kuo, Mohler, Raudenbush, & Earls, 2000;Moses, 1999;O'Keefe, 1997;Overstreet, Dempsey, Graham, & Moely, 1999;Richters & Martinez, 1993;Selner-O'Hagan et al, 1998;Singer, Anglin, Song, & Lunghofer, 1995). Many researchers examining the correlates of exposure to community violence have therefore restricted their samples to youths from high risk areas (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2002).…”

How Young People Peacefully Challenge Community Norms Embedded With Violence in a Brazilian Favela

“…These findings suggest that it is possible to learn through community-based organisations how neighbourhood level changes can occur. Thus, developing strong institutional theories may be informative for developing strategies to reduce structural violence, rather than recording the density of community organisations in an area, a tendency found in other studies (Gardner and Brooks-Gunn 2009;Mazerolle et al 2010).…”