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Neighborhood, Family and Individual Influences on School Physical Victimization

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Abstract

Few studies on the correlates of school violence include school and neighborhood influences. We use ecological systems theory and social disorganization theory to simultaneously incorporate neighborhood (e.g., concentrated poverty, residential instability, and immigrant concentration), school, family, and individual predictors of physical school victimization longitudinally among a large socio-economically and ethnically diverse (49 % Hispanic; 34 % African American) sample of 6 and 9 year olds (49 % female) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. These children were followed up at Wave II at ages 8 and 11 (n = 1,425). Results of Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models reveal neighborhood residential instability increases school victimization net of family and individual correlates. Furthermore, cross-level interactions were also supported where residential family mobility has a stronger risk influence in areas of high residential instability. Also, the influence of residential family mobility is decreased in areas with higher levels of immigrant concentration. We also found cross-context connections where parent-to-child aggression in the home is connected to a higher risk of victimization at school. The role of neighborhood and family residential instability on victimization warrants further research.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate very much the support for this research through NICHD grant #R01-HD049796-01. Our work has benefitted from the comments of the anonymous reviewers and the editor. A draft of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology in November, 2012. We extend our gratitude for use of the PHDCN data to Felton Earls (PI), Stephen Raudenbush, and Robert J. Sampson. The PHDCN was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Institute of Mental Health. The findings reported in this paper are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the funders of the PHDCN or the others acknowledged.

Author contributions

H. F. and J. B. G. conceived of the study, participated in its design, interpretation of the results and drafted the manuscript. H. F. conducted the statistical analyses. H. F and J. B. G. read and approved of the final manuscript.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, MS 4351 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Holly Foster

  2. National Center for Children and Families, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, Box 39, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

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Correspondence to Holly Foster.

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Foster, H., Brooks-Gunn, J. Neighborhood, Family and Individual Influences on School Physical Victimization. J Youth Adolescence 42, 1596–1610 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9890-4

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