Collective efficacy and the contingent consequences of exposure to life-threatening violence.
Neighborhood research has increasingly emphasized the potential for contextual characteristics to moderate the effects of youths' experiences on their outcomes. Drawing on collective efficacy theory, we examine the variable consequences of youths' exposures to life-threatening violence across neighborhoods. We argue that strong community normative orientations supporting the control of violence diminish the negative effect of exposure to severe violence on subsequent mental health among urban youth. We also consider the extent to which the consequences of exposure to violence vary by gender. Employing data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we estimate a series of multivariate, multilevel linear models of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results indicate that, for girls, exposure to life-threatening violence (witnessing someone being attacked with a weapon or shot) increases both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, this effect achieves statistical significance only for girls who reside in neighborhoods with lower collective efficacy. For boys, our analyses offered weaker evidence of violence exposure effects on mental health. Implications for research on the social context of mental health are discussed.
Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University.
Christopher R
CR
Browning
National Center for Children & Families, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Margo
M
Gardner
Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Maryland.
David
D
Maimon
Teachers College, Columbia University.
Jeanne
J
Brooks-Gunn
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*