Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods: A Research Update

• NCJ Number: 163603
• Author(s): F J Earls; C A Visher
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research in Brief
• Grant Number(s): 93-IJ-CX-K005
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

A longitudinal cohort study of human development in Chicago neighborhoods was planned beginning in 1990, completed initial studies in 1995 and 1996, and will continue to gather information for 7 additional years to determine how individual personalities, school factors, and type of community interact to contribute to juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior.

Abstract

Researchers for the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods gathered data during the first 2 years using a community survey, social observation, a survey of neighborhood experts, and interviews with 7,000 children and adolescents and their primary caregivers. The researchers are observing areas throughout Chicago and have identified 80 neighborhoods as the focus. Preliminary results reveal considerable variation in neighborhood perceptions among residents living in the same community. The results also indicate that concentrated disadvantage and residential stability appear to be the most important factors related to levels of informal social control. Researchers will consider indicators of neighborhood cohesion to determine how these different perceptions affect neighborhood stability and added a new interview to measure lifetime and recent exposure to violence. The overall research will examine development from birth through age 26. Table