Novel Approaches to Operationalizing the Neighborhood Context

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Although neighborhoods are important contexts that promote and challenge adaptive youth development, traditional approaches to operationalizing dimensions of the neighborhood context (e.g., violence) suffer from reliance on self-reports or coarsely-defined administrative data (e.g., Census-tract crime rate). Novel methodological approaches are needed to address several outstanding questions about neighborhood processes and youth well-being: Do adolescent perceptions of neighborhood boundaries converge with administrative definitions? How can we use big data approaches to generate finer-grain measures of neighborhood resources (e.g., disinvestment)? What are the spatial and temporal influences of neighborhood crime on adolescent behavioral outcomes? Are there methods that encourage youth participation in neighborhood research?

This symposium presents four studies that leverage quantitative and qualitative methods to operationalize the neighborhood context. Paper 1 develops a virtual auditing method using Google Street View to generate parcel-level measures of neighborhood disorder. Paper 2 constructs a crime index harmonized to adolescent’s GPS coordinates over a one-week period, comparing the effects of this GPS-created index and traditional tract-level crime on adolescent behavioral outcomes. Paper 3 utilizes data on incident-level deadly gun violence to evaluate the spatial and temporal effects of community violence on neurobehavioral function during adolescence. Paper 4 implements a mixed-methods participatory approach wherein adolescents’ photos of their own neighborhoods are used to generate Esri Storymaps and, in concert with semi-structed interviews, reveal the prevalence of spaces that youth identify as having negative and positive influences on their wellbeing. Collectively, these studies leverage novel methods to operationalize the neighborhood context and highlight new avenues for research.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Arianna Gard, University of Maryland - College Park

Individual Presentations

• A Virtual Audit Tool of Neighborhood Disorder using Google Street View: A Validation of LAND - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Ann Shewark, Michigan State University; Non-Presenting Author: Amber L Pearson, Michigan State University; Non-Presenting Author: C.J. Sivak, Michigan State University; Non-Presenting Author: Hyunseo Park, Michigan State University; Non-Presenting Author: S. Alexandra Burt, Michigan State University

• Redefining Exposure: Using Mobile Technology and Geospatial Analysis to Explore When and Where Chicago Adolescents are Exposed to Neighborhood Characteristics - Presenting Author: Amanda L. Roy, University of Illinois at Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Ashley Isaia, University of Minnesota; Non-Presenting Author: Andrea DaViera, University of Illinois at Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Yohai Eisenberg, University of Illinois, Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Chris Poulos, University of Illinois Chicago

• Deadly Gun Violence and Corticolimbic Connectivity During Adolescence: Moderation by Collective Efficacy - Presenting Author: Arianna Gard, University of Maryland - College Park; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah James, Cornell University; Non-Presenting Author: Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University; Non-Presenting Author: Sara McLanahan, Princeton University; Non-Presenting Author: Colter Mitchell, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor; Non-Presenting Author: Christopher S Monk, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Luke W. Hyde, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Participatory Photo Mapping and Mixed Methods Qualitative Inquiry to Understand and Document Community - Presenting Author: Samantha Teixeira, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Dabin Hwang, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Bryn Spielvogel, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Joshua Lown, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Rebekah Levine Coley, Boston College