DOI: 10.3886/icpsr39287.v1
title: Unpacking the Influence of Neighborhood Context and Antisocial Propensity on Violent Victimization of Children and Adolescents in Chicago, Illinois, 1990-2000
title: Version 1

description: This secondary data analysis study combined social disorganization and self-control theories to understand violent victimization among children and adolescents. The study used data from 1,889 youth from the 9, 12, and 15-year-old cohorts of the Longitudinal Cohort Study in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). The PHDCN was an interdisciplinary study on how the contexts in which children and adolescents reside contribute to their behavior and psychological development.
Data analyzed for this study were from self-reports of children, adolescents, and their primary caregivers during waves 1 and 2 of the longitudinal data collection effort. In addition, neighborhood structural characteristics from the U.S. Census were also analyzed.
description: From a neighborhood perspective, youth who live in disadvantage areas may be at increased risk for violent victimization due to a host of reasons that include proximity to offenders, a lack of informal social controls or capable guardians, and street norms that encourage violence. Alternatively, youth who have lower self-control, which is the likelihood that they will consider the short and long-term consequences of their actions in pursuit of self-gratifying behavior, may also be more at risk for violent victimization because of their lifestyles and personal characteristics that make them highly vulnerable to crime. Guided by both perspectives, this study aimed to empirically illustrate the independent and interactive influences of neighborhood context and low self-control on violent victimization.
The following hypotheses were assessed in this study:
Youth with lower self-control will have a higher risk of becoming victims of violence when controlling for neighborhood contexts.
Youth residing in structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods will have a higher risk of becoming victims of violence when controlling for self-control and individual characteristics.
From the "social push" perspective, low self-control will not significantly increase the risk of violent victimization among those residing in the most structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods, but low self-control will significantly influence violent victimization risk for youth residing in the least disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Youth with lower self-control will have a higher risk of becoming victims of violence in most disadvantaged neighborhoods; whereas those possessing more self-control will have a lower risk of becoming victims of violence in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
description: The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) was implemented in 1995 to collect reliable and valid data on the neighborhood contexts in which children and adolescents develop. Study recruitment consisted of infants, children, adolescents (including 18-year-olds) and their primary caregivers. Extensive interviews were conducted over three waves of data collection spaced approximately 2.5 years apart. This effort resulted in seven cohorts that span a period of development between infancy and early adulthood.
The current study included a sample of 1,889 children and adolescents from the 9 (n=669), 12 (n=674), and 15-year-old cohorts (n=546) and their primary caregivers from waves 1 and 2 of the Longitudinal Cohort Study (LCS) in the PHDCN. Self-reported violent victimization measured at wave 2 was predicted using individual-level predictors from waves 1 and 2 of the LCS. Additionally, 1990 U.S. Census data were used to measure neighborhood-level structural variables of 79 of the 80 neighborhood clusters that were randomly selected for the LCS.
description: The current study selected variables from the following PHDCN studies, which are available with restricted access through ICPSR. Please see the Description of Scales, Measures, and Items study documentation for additional information on specific measures and items used.

Deviance of Peers, Wave 1 (ICPSR 13585)
Provision of Social Relations (Subject), Wave 1 (ICPSR 13598)
Routine Activities, Wave 2 (ICPSR 13651)
Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment, Wave 1 (ICPSR 13594)
Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity Temperament Survey, Wave 1 (ICPSR 13586)
My Exposure to Violence (Subject), Wave 2 (ICPSR 13617)
Self Report of Offending, Wave 1 (ICPSR 13601)
Master File, Wave 1 (ICPSR 13580)
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Unpacking the Influence of Neighborhood Context and Antisocial Propensity on Violent Victimization of Children and Adolescents in Chicago, Illinois, 1990-2000
description: Children, adolescents, young adults, and their primary caregivers, living in the city of Chicago.
description: face-to-face interview; telephone interviewThere are no data files available for this study at this time. A P.I. codebook and documentation describing scales, measures, and items used in this study are available for public access.For additional information on the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Longitudinal Cohort Study, please see the PHDCN Resource Guide.