Neighborhood Violence and the Critical Transition to High School: Pathways to Low Academic Achievement Among African American Males

Background & Purpose: Exposure to neighborhood and school violence has deleterious effects on the socio-emotional well being of adolescents. Research has demonstrated a relationship between exposure to violence, an increase in psychosocial problems, and reduction in academic performance of African-American males. Research has often focused on psychosocial problems as a mechanism by which low academic achievement occurs. However, it is unclear that psychosocial problems are the only factor contributing to low academic achievement when youth are exposed to neighborhood violence. This paper examines the relationship between student beliefs about their neighborhood, school, family, and peer group with experiences of neighborhood violence and low academic achievement

Methods: The current study uses a sample of 612 African American male ninth graders, who are in the critical transition to high school, using data collected with the School Success Profile, an ecological school social work practice instrument that assesses the risk and protective factors in the lives of middle and high school students. Using a structural equation modeling strategy, the impact on student school outcomes was examined in the context of student experiences of violence in their neighborhood, feeling unsafe on the way to or from school, and the level of violence at their school. The influence of supportive adults in the lives of students at home and in the neighborhood was included in the analytic models to examine the hypothesized buffering effects of such support on the impact of exposure to neighborhood violence and feelings of not being safe.

Results: The final model revealed good fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data, with a CFI of .912, IFI of .913 and an RMSEA of .033 (90% c.i. of .030 to .036). The findings suggest there are direct effects of levels of neighborhood and school violence on students not feeling safe on the way to and from school. In turn, crime and violence in the neighborhood and school violence have a mediated influence on behavior at school, satisfaction with school, and time spent on homework mediated through the influence on feeling unsafe on the way to and from school and students' self-esteem. Student self-esteem had direct effects on school behavior, satisfaction with school and time spent on homework was indirectly associated with a student's grades through time spent on homework. Finally, higher violence in the neighborhood was associated with less support from parents and neighbors, which in turn were associated with lower student self-esteem.

Conclusions & Implications: These findings suggest that positive self-esteem and supportive adult relationships mediate the effects of exposure to neighborhood and school violence for African-American male 9th graders. When students have positive self-esteem and supportive adult relationships they are more likely to spend more time on their homework, which directly effects their behavior, grades and attitudes and beliefs about school. This research points to the need for intervention/prevention programs that provide African-American males with supportive adult relationships and safe places to live and learn. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between exposure to violence and self-esteem.