Moving to Collective Efficacy: How Inner-City Mobility Impacts Minority and Immigrant Youth Victimization and Violence

• NCJ Number: 255056
• Author(s): Maria J. L. Antunes; Eileen M. Ahlin
• Date Published: April 2020
• Length: 53 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2016-R2-CX-0044
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Summary); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Award: Moving to Collective Efficacy: How Inner-City Mobility Impacts Minority and Immigrant Youth Victimization and Violence

Annotation

This is the Final Summary Overview of a study that assessed whether vertical mobility (upward or downward changes in neighborhood context) or horizontal mobility (no changes in neighborhood context) influence youth victimization and violence.

Abstract

The research used data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. The data were drawn from both the Community Survey (N-97) and Longitudinal Cohort Study (N-1,611). The data from the Community Survey (1994-1995) enabled the examination of how community characteristics - such as collective efficacy, disorder, and indicators of social disorganization - can impact a variety of youth behaviors among at-risk youth over time. The Longitudinal Cohort Study (1994-1997; 1997-2000; 2000-2002) provides data on youth characteristics and experiences with violence, as well as ecological information on family and peer relationships. Approximately 13 percent of youth moved within the city either between Wave 1 and Wave 2 or Wave 2 and Wave 3. Youth were more likely to move horizontally in terms of neighborhood poverty and residential instability. About half of movers relocated to communities higher in collective efficacy and lower in disorder. This upward mobility was particularly evident among first- and second-generation immigrants. Peer deviance predicted youth violence among non-movers only. Families who are unable or do not desire to move may rely on more restrictive family management strategies to protect their children from unfettered access to communities. This study of inner-city residential mobility shows how neighborhood contexts influence violent behaviors and further explain differences in minority and immigrant youth outcomes. 11 figures, 9 tables, and 68 references