Neighborhood Social Isolation and Spatial Exposure Heterogeneity Among Urban Youth

• In Event: 3504 - Urban and Spatial Inequality

Abstract

Foundational urban sociological theories emphasize the role of heterogeneity of exposure to spatial contexts and associated social environments as an essential feature of the urban experience. Yet the development of “neighborhood effects” research has largely focused on the residential context as the (single) relevant non-home urban exposure space. We explore the extent to which the everyday activity locations of urban youth vary with respect to a key feature of social structure - racial composition. We use unique geospatial data on the travel paths of a large sample of youth from the Columbus, OH-based Adolescent Health and Development in Context study. Contrary to the expectations of the dominant theoretical approach to neighborhood influence – the neighborhood social isolation model – findings indicate that youth residing in segregated African American neighborhoods spend a significant proportion of their time in white-dominated areas. In addition, increases in the percent African American of the residential neighborhoods youth reside in is associated with greater variability in the racial composition of the locations they encounter. Implications for interpreting findings from decades of research on the influence of residence in segregated neighborhoods and the conduct of “neighborhood effects” research more broadly are discussed.

Authors

• Christopher R. Browning, Ohio State University

• Jake Tarrence, Ohio State University

• Catherine Calder, Ohio State

• Bethany Boettner, Ohio State University