Proponents of homeownership policies often argue that homeowners participate more actively in community life and civic affairs than renters. Although research suggests higher rates of participation among homeowners, the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship are unclear. On one hand, the locally dependent financial investments homeowners…

A comparison of data from reputational studies of black community leadership in Providence, Rhode Island, conducted in 1962, 1970, and 1972 revealed a high turnover in personnel, a decrease in average age, more local origin, more orientation to the black community, more employment in positions related to race relations, more residence in the black…

Analysis of aggregate- and individual-level data for a national sample of white women suggest that adolescent nonmarital sexual activity and contraceptive use are shaped by the local opportunity structure and normative environment. Social disintegration, socioeconomic status, and availability of employment opportunities for women emerged as…

In 1970, urban African-American self-employment depended upon niches created by racial disadvantage, but by 1980 increased educational attainment and occupational status of African-American workers enabled them to move beyond traditional niches and become entrepreneurs supported by a sizable middle class African-American community. Contains 53…

Racial differences in adolescent premarital childbearing were largely explained by racial differences in neighborhood quality. These neighborhood effects were attributed to peer attitudes and behaviors, adolescents' more tolerant attitudes toward unmarried parenthood, and greater residential mobility in distressed communities. Neighborhood effects…

Data from a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth subsample (aged 18-21 in the first survey year) indicate that criminal involvement is related positively to time out of the labor force and negatively to workers' expectations of job duration and to student status. Results suggest that the stability of good jobs or academic involvement inhibits…

Analyses of local labor market data and national longitudinal survey data on adolescents suggest strong effects of low-wage service-sector concentration and unemployment on the likelihood of both fighting and drug use among adolescents. Mediating processes included the patterning of family income, family intactness, and adolescent attachment to…

Using national longitudinal data on 10,860 adolescents, a comparative analysis of community contextual effects on delinquency examined variables derived from three theories. Youths in areas of high male joblessness who experienced stressful life events or little parental supervision were especially likely to be involved in delinquency. The…

Low-income neighborhoods with high African American concentrations increased mortality for all residents, but particularly young and middle-aged men; Mexican American neighborhoods conferred a mortality advantage on male residents; women received a mortality advantage in neighborhoods with higher average educational attainment; and individual…