Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Background and Purpose: A growing awareness of contextual factors in children's adaptation has drawn attention to neighborhood level influences. Structural characteristics such as poverty, mobility, and differences in social organization; availability of resources and positive opportunities such as education and employment; and collective efficacy are believed to impact adaptation and development. However, precisely how children experience neighborhood influences, and individual variation in perceptions and experience, is not well understood. Examination of the complex relationship between these variables and developmental outcomes is limited by this lack of information. The purpose of the current mixed method study was to explore the relationship between young people's perceptions of neighborhood and the available neighborhood resources.

Methods: Individual level data included self-report surveys conducted in the fall of 2005 with 157 youth residing in three urban public housing communities. Study participants were racially and ethnically diverse (54% Latino/a, 17% African American, 19% mixed ethnicity, and 10% Asian American) and averaged 12 years of age (SD=1.3). Measures of risk and protection included daily hassles and neighborhood cohesion. A representative sub-sample of 22 participants provided the qualitative data for this study. Qualitative data were derived from the participants' written work in response to pre-designed, open-ended questions about their neighborhoods and neighbors and were collected in the winter and spring of 2005. Neighborhood level data included the availability of resources in each neighborhood. U. S. Census data were used to map tract and block groups for each of the neighborhoods. The tract group and block group for each neighborhood were surveyed individually through a systematic recording process and resources were coded by type, including resources for resident support, resources for resident spending, resources for non-residents, and legal/financial services.

Results: Regression analyses indicate that neighborhood hassles are inversely associated with the rate of resources for resident support (significant at p<.001). Gender (female) was also significant in the model predicting neighborhood hassles. Other variables (age, ethnicity, rate of resident spending) were not significant. No significant relationship between neighborhood cohesion and neighborhood resources was found. Qualitative results indicate neighborhood resources tied to informal places such as one's own yard; neighbors who provide both instrumental and social emotional support; and hassles related to the existence of gangs, prostitutes, drunks, beggars, noise, shootings, bullies, and lack of resources such as banks and malls. One final category of resource was related to formal resources such as an after school program and a boys and girls club. Reference to these formal resources, however, was minimal.

Implications for Practice: Results highlight the importance of neighborhood influences in children's experience, suggesting the need for social workers to consider the role of neighborhood hassles in clinical assessments, especially when there are concerns related to anxiety and depression. On a macro level, an emphasis on community action to change structural components of public housing neighborhoods to increase local businesses that can support the needs of residents is indicated. Finally, the implications of study findings for examination of the complex relationships between children's neighborhood experiences and developmental outcomes are discussed.