Neighborhood Advantage, Relative Status, and Violence Among Foreign-Born Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 251783
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 35 Issue: 4 Dated: June 2018 Pages: 699-725
• Author(s): Lori A. Burrington
• Date Published: June 2018
• Length: 27 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Institute of Mental Health. The findings reported here do not necessarily represent the views of the funders or scientific directors of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. This research was supported in part by the Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, which has core funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [grant number F24HD050959].

Annotation

This study examined the interplay among immigrant status, family socioeconomic status (SES), and neighborhood advantage in predicting adolescent violence.

Abstract

Immigrant families and contexts are protective for delinquency, even though recent immigrants are more likely to be poor and reside in disadvantaged settings. Yet it is unclear whether the protective effects of immigrant status depend on the match between family SES and neighborhood advantage. Using multilevel longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 1,908), findings from the reported study show that first-generation adolescents from low-SES families have the highest odds of violence in the most advantaged contexts, exceeding that of even third-generation adolescents. In contrast, high-SES first-generation adolescents have the highest probability of violence in less advantaged contexts, but the lowest in the most advantaged neighborhoods. The results identify conditions under which the protective nature of immigrant status is eroded, and highlight the importance of relative status for understanding violence among foreign-born adolescents. (Publisher abstract modified)