Race, Gender, and Age Differences in Neighborhood Effects on Delinquency

• In Event: Using Multi-Level Models to Explore New Issues in the Area of Communities and Crime

Abstract

An extensive body of research has found significant and sometimes sizable effects of neighborhood characteristics on delinquent behavior among juveniles. Much less attention has been directed at whether the importance of neighborhood context for explaining variation in delinquency varies according to individual characteristics such as race, gender, and age. The child development literature suggest that living in disadvantaged neighborhoods may have a stronger effect on young adolescents compared with older teens, and perhaps more for boys than girls, and more for black youths than for whites. The current study examines these questions with specific regard to variation in neighborhood effects on delinquency and criminal behavior. It also goes further to examine which specific neighborhood characteristics matter most for each demographic group. Data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods are used to estimate multilevel models examining a wide range of neighborhood characteristics, including broad structural conditions as well as intervening neighborhood-level mechanisms. The results extend prior work on neighborhood effects by identifying the types of children for whom neighborhood context is most influential, and the types of neighborhood conditions that matter most for each demographic group.

Author

• Brian Stults, Florida State University