NCJ Number
139807
Date Published
1990
Length
2 pages
Annotation
The Denver Youth Survey looked at the effects of living in high-risk neighborhoods, social disorganization, and the relation between perceived limited opportunities and delinquency.
Abstract
Analysis of census data revealed three distinct types of high-risk neighborhoods: traditional area; area with a much higher concentration of single people and high mobility rates; and area characterized by single-parent families, a high concentration of blacks, and high household density. About 72 percent of youth in the survey reported having committed at least one delinquent act during their lifetimes. There was a slightly higher prevalence rate in the black area than either the traditional area or the single-person area. Individual offending rates also revealed a slightly higher rate for youth in the black area. Youth in the traditional area believed they had a lower chance of attaining conventional goals, such as educational and economic success, than youth in the other two areas. Perceptions of limited opportunity did not seem to be uniform. Involvement in delinquency increased with levels of perceived limited opportunity for certain offenses. The prevalence of theft, for example, appeared to be related to higher perceptions of limited opportunity in all three areas, while assault rates did not vary by perceptions of limited opportunity. Additional analysis demonstrated a complex interaction between behavior type, social area, age, gender, perceived limited opportunity, and delinquency.