Doctoral Dissertation Research: Violence and Educational Outcomes

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SES-1030978 Jeremy Freese Robert VargasNorthwestern University How does neighborhood violence impact the educational outcomes of youth? This dissertation will examine how victimization and exposure to neighborhood violence is associated with the GPA (grade point average) attendance record, social network composition, participation in community organizations, and attitudes toward schooling among high school students in a pre-dominantly Mexican immigrant neighborhood in Chicago. Building upon two years of ethnographic research with community organizations, youth, and the two major gangs in the neighborhood, the co-PI will conduct a household survey of neighborhood youth. In total, a random sample of a total of 540 households within 60 blocks in the neighborhood will be surveyed: 40 blocks within the two gang territories (20 in each), and 20 blocks nearest to the street that divides the two gang territories. While previous research has documented how violence can explain variation in adolescent outcomes between neighborhoods, it is widely acknowledged that most variation in adolescent outcomes lies within neighborhoods. This mixed method neighborhood case study will contribute to our understanding of violence as a mechanism of neighborhood effects, as well as sociological theories on the connection between micro and macro processes. Policies aimed at curbing neighborhood violence typically involve increased surveillance and security, as well as interventions at school through various forms of programming. By studying how neighborhood violence is associated with the educational outcomes of youth, this study might encourage education policymakers to focus on neighborhood violence prevention as an element of school reform. This research may also bring attention to the impact of neighborhood violence and policing in immigrant communities with large undocumented populations. While, generally, immigrant communities have been shown to have low levels of violence and crime, these numbers may be underestimated for communities with undocumented populations. This dissertation may shed light on how violence has a unique consequence for undocumented adolescents or adolescents with undocumented family members.