Do Schools Provide a Reprieve from Residential Neighborhood Violence?

• In Event: 20480 - Education and Society: Institutional Interactions and Reciprocal Influences

Abstract

A growing body of literature examines the academic and developmental consequences of residing in neighborhoods with high rates of violence. Yet, these are not the only places where youth may be exposed to violent crime. School enrollment patterns are characterized by increasing shares of students commuting to schools located outside their residential neighborhoods. This paper proposes a revised framework for neighborhood effects that accounts for student exposure to environmental stressors across multi-neighborhood contexts. I draw upon academic transcript records from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) and state homicide records to investigate how exposure to violence in residential and school neighborhood contexts jointly predicts school disengagement. I find that student exposure to neighborhood violence is associated with higher course failures and reported absences, but safe school neighborhoods can serve as respite environments for youth who reside in high-violence neighborhoods. Youth with access to respite environments are more engaged in school even as exposure to residential neighborhood violence increases. These results underscore the importance of moving beyond dichotomous, mono-neighborhood perspectives of measuring the effects of residential contexts. I also discuss insights for identifying mechanisms linking short-term and long-term consequences of neighborhood violence exposure.  

Author

• Max Lubell, University of Texas-Austin