Effects of neighborhood collective efficacy and violence on antisocial behavior: Dual mediation of socialization and routine activities

Abstract

The authors examined the e唖 ects of neighborhood collective e阿cacy and violence on adolescents' antisocial behavior tendencies by means of the dual mediation of socialization indices i.e., social information-processing and self regulation and routine activities. Collective e阿cacy and violence exposure were assessed by neighborhood "informal social control" and "social cohesion and trust" during the elementary and junior high school years, and the frequency of violence in the community during junior high and high school years. Normative beliefs about aggression, cognitive distortions, social rule appropriateness and self regulation were used to assess both the positive and negative indices of socialization. Routine activities were assessed by the experience in unstructured socializing activities. Antisocial tendencies were assessed by evaluations of the seriousness and past experience of delinquent behaviors. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that the e唖 ect of collective e阿cacy on antisocial tendencies was perfectly mediated by the socialization indices, whereas experienced violence was partly mediated by routine activities. Possible improvements of this dual mediation model were discussed.

Cross‐cultural Protective Effects of Neighborhood Collective Efficacy on Antisocial Behaviors: Mediating Role of Social Information Processing

“…Do you think it's OK for John to scream at him?” Responses are scored on a 4‐point scale, ranging from 4 ( Absolutely wrong ) to 1 ( Absolutely right ). The General Belief subscale consists of eight criteria, and again participants were asked how strongly they agreed with question such as, “In general, it is wrong to hit other people.” The Retaliation Belief subscale, which had lower predictive power for antisocial behaviors than other scales in a previous study (Yoshizawa et al, ), was omitted in the South Korean study, due to time restrictions on the survey permitted for this research. Scores for each criterion were averaged and reversed to create subscale scores of the questionnaire.…”

“…Yoshizawa et al () analyzed the mediation model for Japanese participants using structural equation modeling and confirmed that the inhibitory effect of collective efficacy within communities on the experience of antisocial behaviors was mediated by the appropriateness of social information processing and social self‐regulation of youths. Social self‐regulation was defined as the ability to inhibit or to assert the self, depending on internal and external needs in a social setting when there is discrepancy between desire, intention, and current perception (Harada, Yoshizawa, & Yoshida, ).…”

“…Unlike other socialization indices, such as empathy, perspective-taking, and social skills, social information processing has a well-developed theoretical background that is useful for explaining and correcting antisocial behaviors (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 1999;Crick & Dodge, 1994;Gibbs, Potter, & Goldstein, 1995). Yoshizawa et al (2009) analyzed the mediation model for Japanese participants using structural equation modeling and confirmed that the inhibitory effect of collective efficacy within communities on the experience of antisocial behaviors was mediated by the appropriateness of social information processing and social self-regulation of youths. Social self-regulation was defined as the ability to inhibit or to assert the self, depending on internal and external needs in a social setting when there is discrepancy between desire, intention, and current perception (Harada, Yoshizawa, & Yoshida, 2008).…”

“…In addition, previous studies have not focused on the generality of causal relations between collective efficacy and antisocial behaviors. Understanding of causal mechanisms has been limited to studies conducted in specific countries, such as the United States (Maimon & Browning, 2010;Moren-Cross, Wright, LaGory, & Lanzi, 2006) and Japan (Yoshizawa et al, 2009). Very few studies have been carried out that have undertaken a cross-national comparison of community social mechanisms in order to explain antisocial behaviors.…”

Editorial: Adolescence Revisited: New Frontier in Psychological Research

“…Cultural similarity is the key topic of the article entitled “Cross‐cultural Protective Effects of Neighborhood Collective Efficacy on Antisocial Behaviors: Mediating Role of Social Information Processing” by Yoshizawa et al (). Adolescent participants from 10 universities in Japan, China, South Korea, and the United States reported their collective efficacy, normative beliefs about aggression, and antisocial behavior.…”