In the Face of a Dangerous Community: The Effects of Social Support and Neighborhood Danger on High School Students' School Outcomes

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of social support and exposure to community violence (i.e., the extent to which students perceive danger in the neighborhood, and the extent to which they personally experience neighborhood crime and violence either directly or indirectly) on high school students' school behavior, school affect, and grades. Results indicated that neighborhood danger, especially when experienced personally, had an important negative influence on high school students' attendance, trouble avoidance, and school satisfaction, and less influence on their grades. The usefulness of social support in moderating this influence varied depending on the particular school outcome of interest: it had its greatest moderating influence on school satisfaction and grades, and it was less influential on the outcomes of attendance and trouble avoidance. Results of analyses using structural equation modeling showed social support having both a direct effect on each school outcome and serving as a moderating variable through students' personally experienced neighborhood danger.

Notes

Note: Values in the table indicate the R ² change accounted for in the school outcome.

∗D1 = perceived neighborhood danger; D2 = personal neighborhood danger; SS# = number of types of social support received.

∗All F values, p < .001.

∗∗D1 = perceived neighborhood danger; D2 = personal neighborhood danger; SS# = number of types of social support received.

1. The School Success Profile (SSP) was developed by the second and third authors to assess the outcomes of Community in Schools programs in the United States. The portion of the instrument used to measure social support was developed by the first and second author, who adapted the items from their Social Support Survey (Richman, Rosenfeld, & Hardy, 1993). Research to evaluate the validity and reliability of the SSP and assess the efficacy of the Communities in Schools program was conducted with approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2. The following table presents the F tests and standardized beta coefficients (β) for the multiple regression analyses presented in Table 3.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lawrence B. Rosenfeld

Lawrence B. Rosenfeld, Communication Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jack M. Richman

Jack M. Richman, Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Gary L. Bowen

Gary L. Bowen, Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Scarlet L. Wynns

Scarlet L. Wynns, Frank N. Magid Associates, New York.