NCJ Number
212618
Journal
Criminology Volume: 43 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2005 Pages: 1135-1168
Date Published
November 2005
Length
34 pages
Annotation
Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health and contextual modeling, this study contrasted an individual difference model with a structural model of racial differences in serious adolescent violence.
Abstract
Relationships between race and criminal involvement have been the subject of debate in the social and behavioral sciences for almost a century. The individual difference approach draws attention to verbal ability as an explanation of African-American-White differences in violence. This study compared an individual difference model that emphasizes verbal ability as an explanation of the African-American-White difference in adolescent violence with a structural model highlighting the role of community and family socioeconomic disadvantage. The study used a sample from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and block-group data from the 1990 U.S. Census containing suitable measures of verbal ability, school achievement, family SES, community disadvantage, and violence. A sample of 132 schools was selected. Study results reveal that community and family contexts are predictive of ability, achievement, and violence; that African-American children more than White children must contend with distressed environments that inhibit healthy child development; and that the relative exposure of African-Americans over Whites to disadvantaged community structures explains the greater involvement in violence among African-American adolescents. Tables, references and appendixes