| Research on contextual influences on violence, aggression, and delinquency indicates that characteristics of both neighborhoods and families explain variation in these behaviors beyond individual level factors. While theoretical arguments have drawn attention to the need to incorporate children into research on communities and crime, most studies have focused on adolescents and young adults. The interdisciplinary literature on neighborhood influences on a range of children's outcomes shows the results on behaviors have been inconsistent. This paper seeks to clarify findings on neighborhood influences on childhood aggression by using census data and information on young children from the first cycle of an ongoing Canadian study, the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada). The paper considers how the macro-level context of the research and alternative model forms may clarify how neighborhoods affect outcomes in childhood. As research on the geographical concentration of socio-economic disadvantage in Canada highlights regional differences, the influences of regional patterns within Canada in neighborhood disadvantage on children's aggression are also examined.
|
Updated 05/20/2006