Adverse Housing Conditions and Early‐Onset Delinquency

Abstract

Housing constitutes an important health resource for children. Research has revealed that, when housing conditions are unfavorable, they can interfere with child health, academic performance, and cognition. Little to no research, however, has considered whether adverse housing conditions and early-onset delinquency are significantly associated with one another. This study explores the associations between structural and non-structural housing conditions and delinquent involvement during childhood. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were employed in this study. Each adverse housing condition was significantly associated with early-onset delinquency. Even so, disarray and deterioration were only significantly linked to early delinquent involvement in the presence of health/safety hazards. The predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed to housing risks in the presence of health/safety hazards was nearly three times as large as the predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed only to disarray and/or deterioration, and nearly four times as large as the predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed to none of the adverse housing conditions. The findings suggest that minimizing housing-related health/safety hazards among at-risk subsets of the population may help to alleviate other important public health concerns-particularly early-onset delinquency. Addressing household health/safety hazards may represent a fruitful avenue for public health programs aimed at the prevention of early-onset delinquency.

Collective Efficacy as a Key Context in Neighborhood Support for Urban Youth

“…Three constructs: safety, neighborhood aesthetics, and walkability, were assessed using the Neighborhood Scales (Mujahid et al., ). In prior research, these constructs have been identified as neighborhood social determinants of health and well‐being (Henderson, Child, Moore, Moore, & Kaczynski, ; Jackson, Newsome, & Lynch, ; Mujahid et al., ; Sallis et al., ). For each scale, responses range from 1 ( Strongly Disagree ) to 5 ( Strongly Agree ) such that higher scores indicate more favorable perceptions.…”

A Multi-Informant Study of the Role of Household Disorder in Low Self-Control

“…The independent variables of interest reflect various facets of household disorder (in order of diminishing prevalence): Household Disarray, Household Deterioration, and Household Health/Safety Hazards. Each of these household-level variables was constructed from coded observations by FFCWS staff during in-home interviews among a subsample of participants at the fourth wave of data collection (Jackson, Newsome, & Lynch, 2017; Suglia et al, 2011). The items pertain to the physical environment that characterizes the household, whether structural or nonstructural, and are not necessarily indicative of the risks or conditions of nearby homes or the neighborhood in which the household is embedded.…”

“…The first variable indicative of disorder in the physical household environment is Household Disarray. In line with prior research (Jackson et al, 2017; Suglia et al, 2011), this measure was created by assigning subjects a score of 1 if independent raters (e.g., FFCWS staff) reported during the Wave 4 in-home interview that the child’s residence was unnecessarily dark (e.g., drapes/curtains closed in the daytime), crowded, cluttered, or dirty/untidy. If the familial residence exhibited none of these characteristics, the participants were assigned a value of 0 on this variable.…”

What about Rural Blight? Housing and Neighborhood Conditions in Southeastern Small Towns

“…Poor physical conditions, such as mold, safety hazards, and lead paint, are associated with a range of health concerns for both adults and children (Breysse et al ). Living in housing with structural deficiencies and safety hazards is associated with increased accidents, cognitive problems, early onset delinquency among children, and other problems in adolescent functioning (Elliott et al ; Evans ; Hernandez and Suglia ; Jackson, Newsome, and Lynch ). From a psychosocial perspective, housing serves as a source of identity and can provide privacy, a sense of security, and stability (Bull and Gross ).…”