Contextual research examining the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on adolescent outcomes such as gang membership, drug trafficking, drug use, and violence has emerged as an important area of research over the past decade. Using data from the first three rounds of NLSY97, the project addresses the following questions: (1) Are structural features of neighborhoods such as concentrated disadvantages associated with gang membership, drug trafficking, drug use, and/or their joint distribution among adolescents once relevant individual predictors are controlled? If so, is the effect of concentrated disadvantage nonlinear? Are family characteristics such as income, structure, bonding, or monitoring associated with gang membership, drug trafficking, drug use, and/or joint distribution, and, if so, are the effects enhanced or constrained (interaction) as neighborhood disadvantage increases? Do these relationships exist in urban, suburban, and rural contexts alike? (2) Is there a relationship between concentrated disadvantage and adolescent violence? If so, is there relationship nonlinear? Given the relationship between concentrated disadvantage and adolescent violence, is the relationship explained by gang membership, drug trafficking, drug use, and/or their joint occurrence? Do these relationships exist in urban, suburban, and rural contexts alike? (3) Is the relationship between gang membership, drug trafficking, drug use, and/or their joint distribution and adolescent violence enhanced or constrained (interaction) by the level of neighborhood disadvantage? Do these relationships exist in urban, suburban, or rural contexts alike? (4) With respect to questions 2, 3, and 4, do the relationships discovered remain significant when statistical controls are introduced for unobserved heterogeneity among respondents which may influence social selection processes?
| Bellair, Paul E; McNulty, Thomas L; Piquero, Alex R (2016) Verbal Ability and Persistent Offending: A Race-Specific Test of Moffitt's Theory. Justice Q 33:455-480 |
| Carlson, Daniel L; McNulty, Thomas L; Bellair, Paul E et al. (2014) Neighborhoods and racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent sexual risk behavior. J Youth Adolesc 43:1536-49 |
| Sutton, James E; Bellair, Paul E; Kowalski, Brian R et al. (2011) Reliability and Validity of Prisoner Self-Reports Gathered Using the Life Event Calendar Method. J Quant Criminol 27:151-171 |
| Bellair, Paul E; McNulty, Thomas L (2009) Gang Membership, Drug Selling, and Violence in Neighborhood Context. Justice Q 26:644-669 |
