Over the last two decades, there has been a growing interest in understanding neighborhood effects on youth development. However, many studies of neighborhood effects on children have focused on limited demographic samples, used deficit models, and employed either survey or interview methodology. Therefore, this study uses collective socialization and institutional resources theories to understand how adolescent psychosocial health is affected by neighborhood processes. These theories focus on the extent to which neighborhoods are organized to promote supervision of youth and resources such as schools, recreation centers, and neighborhood organizations that have the potential to increase the accessibility of stimulating environments. This study will focus on the positive neighborhood processes (i.e., connectedness and collective efficacy) that might act as potential moderators of exposure to violence (ETV), which occurs at alarming rates for America's youth, and youth development (i.e., academic success and delinquency) using multiple methods and informants to get a holistic picture of neighborhood processes. Findings from the study have the potential to inform preventive intervention programs which seek to aid in community organization.
