Abstract
Recent studies highlight the importance of neighborhood context for child and family well-being. Yet challenges to research on neighborhood effects remain; research on young children is sparse, as is research on neighborhood effects on parenting. Measurement also continues to challenge researchers, particularly in devising non-invasive means of gauging neighborhood characteristics. The present study seeks to address these issues by using data from a newly developed observational measure of neighborhood characteristics to examine parent reports of the safety of neighborhood children in the home and self-reports of parenting. The results showed that neighborhood characteristics accounted for 23% of the variance in parent perceptions of children's safety in the home, with neighborhood physical appearance strongly predicting children's safety. Neighborhood effects on self-reported parenting were more modest, accounting for just 6% of the variance in parents' reports of nurturing interactions with their children; vigilance for the safety of the neighborhood was a significant predictor. The study has implications for observational measurement of neighborhood effects and for policy and program practices to improve child and family well-being through neighborhood change.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Annie E. Casey Foundation: 1999, ‚Evaluating comprehensive community change. [On-line]’, Available: www.aecf.org/publications/data/eval.pdf
Al-Zoabi, A.Y.: 2002, `Children's `mental maps' and neighborhood design of Abu-Nuseir, Jordan. [On-line]', Available: www.araburban.org/childcity/Papers/English/Alzoabi.pdf
Auspos, C. and A.C. Kubish: 2004, ‚Building knowledge about community change: Moving beyond evaluations. The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. [On-line]’, vailable: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.612045/k.4BA8/Roundtable_on_Community_Change.htm
Bartlett S. (1999). Children’s experience of the physical environment in poor urban settlements and the implications for policy, planning and practice, Environment & Urbanization 11:63–73
Buckner, J.C.: 1988, `The development of an instrument to measure neighborhood Cohesion', American Journal of Community Psychology 16, pp. 771–791
California Environmental Protection Agency: 1994, ‚California’s children: How and where they can be exposed to air pollution. Research Note #94-6. [On-line]’, Available: http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/resnotes/notes/94-6.htm
Caughy M.O., O’Campo P.J., Patterson J. (2001). A brief observational measure for urban neighborhoods, Health & Place 7:225–236
Ceballo R., McLoyd V.C. (2002). Social support and parenting in poor dangerous neighborhoods, Child Development 73:1310–1321
Cohen D.A., Mason K., Bedimo A., Scribner R., Basolo V., Farley T.A. (2003). Neighborhood physical conditions and health, American Journal of Public Health 93:467–471
Community & Environmental Defense Services: 1999, ‚Traffic & neighborhood quality of life. [On-line]’, Available: http://www.ceds.org/publications.html
Coulton C., Korbin J., Sue M., Chow J. (1995). Community level factors and child maltreatment rates, Child Dev 66:1262–1276
Coulton, C., J. Korbin, and M. Su: 1996, `Measuring neighborhood context for young children in an urban area', Journal of Community Psychology 24, pp. 5–32
Duncan G.J., Raudenbush S.W. (2001). Neighborhoods and adolescent development: How can we determine the links?. In: Booth A. and Crouter A.C. (eds) (Does it Take a Village? Community Effects on Children, Adolescents, and Families). (Pennsylvania State University Press, State College, PA) pp. 105–136
Hill N.E., Herman-Stahl M.A. (2002). Neighborhood safety and social involvement: Associations with parenting behaviors and depressive symptoms among African American and Euro-American mothers, Journal of Family Psychology 16:209–219
Kling, J.R. and J.B. Liebman: 2004, ‚Experimental analysis of neighborhood effects on youth. Unpublished manuscript. [On-line]’, Available: www.ksg.harvard.edu/ jeffreyliebman/klingliebman2004.pdf
Kling, J.R., J.B. Liebman and L.F. Katz: 2001, ‚Bullets don’t got no name: Consequences of fear in the ghetto. Joint Center for Poverty Research, Working Paper 225. [On-line]’, Available: http://www.jcpr.org/wpfiles/kling_liebman_katz.PDF?CFID = 1802590 &CFTOKEN = 53180781
Kotchick B.A., Forehand R. (2002). Putting parenting in perspective: A discussion of the contextual factors that shape parenting practices, Journal of Child and Family Studies 11:255–269
Leventhal T., Brooks-Gunn J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes, Psychological Bulletin 126:309–337
Letiecq B.L., Koblinsky S.A. (2004). Parenting in violent neighborhoods: African-American fathers share strategies for keeping kids safe, Journal of Family Issues 25:715–734
Marshall, M.L.: 2003, Examining school climate: Defining factors and educational influences. Georgia State University, Center for Research on School Safety, School Climate, and Classroom Management
McDonell J.R. (2006). Indicator measurement in comprehensive community initiatives. In: Ben-Arieh A., Goerge R.M. (eds) (Indicators of children’s well-being: Understanding their role, usage, and policy influence) (Springer-Verlag, Dordrecht, Netherlands)
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine: 2000, ‚From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development’, in J.P. Shonkoff and D.A. Phillips (eds.), Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (National Academy Press, Washington, DC)
Nayak A. (2003). Through children’s eyes’: Childhood, place, and the fear of crime, Geoforum 34:303–315
Overton, A. and S. Asherwood: 2003, ‚Using ArcGIS to analyze the effects of community characteristics on physical activity of adolescent girls. [On-line]’, Available: gis.esri.com/ library/userconf/proc03/p0699.pdf
Parke R.D., O’Neil R.L. (1999). Neighborhoods of southern California children and families, The Future of Children: When School is Out 9:58–63
Pebley A.R. and N. Sastry: 2003, ‚Neighborhoods, poverty, and children’s well-being: A review. California Center for Population Research. [On-line]’, Available: http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccpr/olwp/ccpr-035–04
PolicyLink: 2006, ‚Community Reinvestment Act. [On-line]’, Available: http://www.policylink.org/EDTK/CRA/default.html
Raudenbush S.W., Sampson R.J. (1999). Econometrics: Toward a science of assessing ecological settings, with application to the systematic social observation of neighborhoods, Sociological Methodology 29:1–41
Sampson R.J. (2003). The neighborhood context of well-being, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 46(Supplement) S53–S64
Sampson R.J., Morenoff J.D., Gannon-Rowley T. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects”: Social processes and new directions in research, Annual Review of Sociology 28:443–478
Schieber, R.A. and M.E. Vegega (eds.): 2002, `Reducing childhood pedestrian injuries: Summary of a multidisciplinary conference’, Injury Prevention, 8(supplement I), pp. i3–i8
Shenassa E.D., Stubbendick A., Brown M.J. (2004). Social disparities in housing and related pediatric injury: A multi-level study, American Journal of Public Health 94:633–639
Silk J.S., Sessa F.M., Morris A.S., Steinberg L., Avenevoli S. (2004). Neighborhood cohesion as a buffer against hostile maternal parenting, Journal of Family Psychology 18:135–146
Soubhi H., Raina P., Kohen D. (2004). Neighborhood, family, and child predictors of childhood injury in Canada, American Journal of Health Behavior 28:397–409
South S.J., Baumer E.P., Lutz A. (2003). Interpreting community effects on youth educational attainment, Youth & Society 35:3–36
Straus M.A., Hamby S.L., Finkelhor D., Moore D.W., Runyan D. (1998). Identification of child maltreatment with the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scales: Development and psychometric data for a national sample of American parents, Child Abuse & Neglect 22(4) 249–270
Sutherland, C., J. McCroskey and N. Halfon: 2001, ‚The challenges of measuring the impact of proposition 10’, in N. Halfon, E. Shulman and M. Hochstein (eds.), Building community systems for young children, UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. [On-line], Available: http://www.healthychild.ucla.edu/Publications/BuildingCommunitySystemsPubs.asp
Tester J.M., Rutherford G.W., Wald Z., Rutherford M.W. (2004). A matched case-control study evaluating the effectiveness of speed bumps in reducing child pedestrian injuries, American Journal of Public Health 94:46–650
Thompson J.L., Philo C. (2004). Playful spaces? A social geography of children’s play in Livingston, Scotland, Children’s Geographies 2:111–130
U.S. Census Bureau: 2005, ‚2005 First Edition TIGER/Line® Files. [On-line]’, Available: http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tiger2005fe/tgr2005fe.html
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant from The Duke Endowment. The author wishes to thank Kara Argus, Amy Kracker, Melissa Putney, and Barbara Rizzo for their assistance with data collection.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McDonell, J.R. Neighborhood Characteristics, Parenting, and Children’s Safety. Soc Indic Res 83, 177–199 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-9063-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-9063-5