NCJ Number
211539
Journal
Social Forces Volume: 84 Issue: 1 Dated: September 2005 Pages: 361-374
Date Published
September 2005
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between adolescent residential mobility and violence and evaluated the potential of explanatory factors to account for differences in patterns of violence between residentially-mobile and non-mobile youth.
Abstract
American children change residences and schools frequently, and these changes have been linked to a variety of disadvantaged outcomes in the adolescent life course. However, very few studies have attempted to identify the mechanisms that transmit these effects, thereby offering little understanding of why residential mobility influences adolescent development. Utilizing two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined the impact of recent residential mobility on adolescent violence with the focus of the analysis on an examination of the ability of various mechanisms, including parent-child relationships, psychological distress, experiences of victimization, and peer networks to account for the relationship between residential mobility and violent behavior. Residentially mobile adolescents were found to exhibit higher rates of violent behavior compared to non-mobile adolescents. The findings imply that relatively deviant adolescent school networks may be particularly welcoming to new members and that, once mobile adolescents become embedded in such networks, they tend to adopt the violent behaviors of their members. Recommendations for future research in this area of residential-mobility and adolescent violence are presented. References