Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-20T03:16:58.320Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

23 - Community and Neighborhood Influences on Prosociality in Children and Youth

from Part III - Development of Prosociality in Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2023

By
Benjamin Edwards  and
Jacqueline Allen
Edited by
Tina Malti  and
Maayan Davidov
Tina Malti
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Maayan Davidov
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Get access

Summary

There is limited research examining community and neighborhood influences on prosociality in children and youth. In this chapter we outline three relevant theories that address how neighborhood and community processes influence prosocial behavior and review the empirical literature on the topic. Our review suggests that measures of neighborhood socioeconomic status, demography, and disorder have little direct association with prosociality in children and youth but that adolescent prosocial behavior is linked to social capital and collective efficacy. The community intervention evidence shows that providing increased opportunities for prosocial involvement may support greater prosocial behavior of adolescents, possibly by boosting community social capital. Further development of more specific theoretical models and further empirical research is required to better understand the complex neighborhood and community mechanisms across neighborhoods, cities, nations, and cultures.

Keywords

prosocial behaviorchildadolescentneighborhoodneighborhood socioeconomic statussocial capitalcollective efficacy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Prosociality
Development, Mechanisms, Promotion
 , pp. 459 - 476
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aber, J. L., Gephart, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Connell, J., & Spencer, M. B. (1997). Neighborhood, family, and individual processes as they influence child and adolescent outcomes. In Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., & Aber, J. L. (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty, Vol. 1: Context and consequences for children (pp. 44–61). Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Anderson, N. A., Bohnert, A. M., & Governale, A. (2018, Aug). Organized activity involvement among urban youth: Understanding family- and neighborhood-level characteristics as predictors of involvement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(8), 1697–1711. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0823-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Armstrong-Carter, E., Miller, J. G., Hill, L., & Domingue, B. (2020). Young children’s prosocial behavior protects against academic risk in neighborhoods facing adversity (unpublished manuscript).Google Scholar
Barry, S. J., Marryat, L., Thompson, L., Ellaway, A., White, J., McClung, M., & Wilson, P. (2015, Nov). Mapping area variability in social and behavioral difficulties among Glasgow pre-schoolers: Linkage of a survey of pre-school staff with routine monitoring data. Child: Care, Health and Development, 41(6), 853–864. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12237Google Scholar
Brittian, A. S., O’Donnell, M., Knight, G. P., Carlo, G., Umana-Taylor, A. J., & Roosa, M. W. (2013, Mar). Associations between adolescents’ perceived discrimination and prosocial tendencies: The mediating role of Mexican American values. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(3), 328–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9856-6Google Scholar
Brody, G. H., Conger, R., Gibbons, F. X., Ge, X., McBride Murry, V., Gerrard, M., & Simons, R. L. (2001). The influence of neighborhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting on African American children’s affiliation with deviant peers. Child Development, 72(4), 1231–1246. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00344Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1999). Environments in developmental perspective: Theoretical and operational models. In Friedman, S. L. & Wachs, T. D. (Eds.), Measuring environment across the life span: Emerging methods and concepts (pp. 3–28). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10317-001Google Scholar
Cambron, C., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (2019). The social development model. In Farrington, D. P., Kazemian, L., & Piquero, A. R. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of developmental and life-course criminology. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Candipan, J., Phillips, N. E., Sampson, R. J., & Small, M. (2021, November). From residence to movement: The nature of racial segregation in everyday urban mobility. Urban Studies, 58(15), 3095–3117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020978965Google Scholar
Cantillon, D. (2006, Mar). Community social organization, parents, and peers as mediators of perceived neighborhood block characteristics on delinquent and prosocial activities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 37(1–2), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-9000-9Google Scholar
Carlo, G., Mestre, M. V., Samper, P., Tur, A., & Armenta, B. E. (2011). The longitudinal relations among dimensions of parenting styles, sympathy, prosocial moral reasoning, and prosocial behaviors. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35(2), 116–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025410375921CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlo, G., & Padilla‐Walker, L. (2020). Adolescents’ prosocial behaviors through a multidimensional and multicultural lens. Child Development Perspectives, 14(4), 265–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12391Google Scholar
Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1996). The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior. In Hawkins, J. D. (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 149–197). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chilenski, S. M., Ang, P. M., Greenberg, M. T., Feinberg, M. E., & Spoth, R. (2014, Apr). The impact of a prevention delivery system on perceived social capital: The PROSPER project. Prevention Science, 15(2), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0347-5Google Scholar
Choi, Y., Harachi, T. W., Gillmore, M. R., & Catalano, R. F. (2005). Applicability of the social development model to urban ethnic minority youth: Examining the relationship between external constraints, family socialization, and problem behaviors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(4), 505–534. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00109.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.Google Scholar
Delany-Brumsey, A., Mays, V. M., & Cochran, S. D. (2014, Jun). Does neighborhood social capital buffer the effects of maternal depression on adolescent behavior problems? American Journal of Community Psychology, 53(3–4), 275–285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9640-8Google Scholar
Drinkard, A. M. (2017). Predicting prosociality among urban adolescents. Youth & Society, 49(4), 528–547. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x14543266CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dupéré, V., Leventhal, T., & Vitaro, F. (2012). Neighborhood processes, self-efficacy, and adolescent mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53(2), 183–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146512442676Google Scholar
Edwards, B., & Bromfield, L. M. (2009). Neighborhood influences on young children’s conduct problems and pro-social behavior: Evidence from an Australian national sample. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(3), 317–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.08.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisner, M. P., & Malti, T. (2015). Aggressive and violent behavior. In Lerner, R. M. (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (pp. 1–48). John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy319Google Scholar
Ennett, S. T., Foshee, V. A., Bauman, K. E., Hussong, A., Cai, L., Reyes, H. L. M., Faris, R., Hipp, J., & Durant, R. (2008, Nov–Dec). The social ecology of adolescent alcohol misuse. Child Development, 79(6), 1777–1791. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01225.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fagan, A. A., Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Farrington, D. P. (2019). Communities That Care: Building community engagement and capacity to prevent youth behavior problems. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ginwright, S. A. (2007). Black youth activism and the role of critical social capital in Black community organizations. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(3), 403–418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207306068Google Scholar
Gonzales, N. A., Coxe, S., Roosa, M. W., White, R. M., Knight, G. P., Zeiders, K. H., & Saenz, D. (2011, Mar). Economic hardship, neighborhood context, and parenting: Prospective effects on Mexican-American adolescent’s mental health. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47(1–2), 98–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9366-1Google Scholar
Gutman, L. M., McLoyd, V. C., & Tokoyawa, T. (2005). Financial strain, neighborhood stress, parenting behaviors, and adolescent adjustment in urban African American families. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(4), 425–449. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00106.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R. F., Hill, K. G., & Abbott, R. D. (2008). Effects of social development intervention in childhood 15 years later. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 162(12), 1133–1141. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.162.12.1133Google Scholar
Kim, B. K., Gloppen, K. M., Rhew, I. C., Oesterle, S., & Hawkins, J. D. (2015, Jul). Effects of the Communities That Care prevention system on youth reports of protective factors. Prevention Science, 16(5), 652–662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-014-0524-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Hill, K. G., Bailey, J. A., Catalano, R. F., & Abbott, R. D. (2019, Oct). Effects of social development intervention in childhood on adult life at ages 30 to 39. Prevention Science, 20(7), 986–995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-01023-3Google Scholar
Krishnakumar, A., Narine, L., Roopnarine, J. L., & Logie, C. (2014, Aug). Multilevel and cross-level effects of neighborhood and family influences on children’s behavioral outcomes in Trinidad and Tobago: The intervening role of parental control. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42(6), 1057–1068. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9852-2Google Scholar
Lenzi, M., Vieno, A., Perkins, D. D., Pastore, M., Santinello, M., & Mazzardis, S. (2012a, Sep). Perceived neighborhood social resources as determinants of prosocial behavior in early adolescence. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1–2), 37–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-011-9470-xGoogle Scholar
Lenzi, M., Vieno, A., Perkins, D. D., Santinello, M., Elgar, F. J., Morgan, A., & Mazzardis, S. (2012b, Sep). Family affluence, school and neighborhood contexts and adolescents’ civic engagement: A cross-national study. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1–2), 197–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-012-9489-7Google Scholar
Leventhal, T., & Dupéré, V. (2019). Neighborhood effects on children’s development in experimental and nonexperimental research. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 1(1), 149–176. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-085221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loury, G. C. (1977). A dynamic theory of racial income differences. In Wallace, P. A. & LaMond, A. (Eds.), Women, minorities and employment discrimination (pp. 153–188). Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Mahatmya, D., & Lohman, B. J. (2012, Sep). Predictors and pathways to civic involvement in emerging adulthood: Neighborhood, family, and school influences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(9), 1168–1183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9777-4Google Scholar
Maimon, D., & Browning, C. R. (2012, Jul). Underage drinking, alcohol sales and collective efficacy: Informal control and opportunity in the study of alcohol use. Social Science Research, 41(4), 977–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.01.009Google Scholar
Mazerolle, L., Wickes, R., & McBroom, J. (2010). Community variations in violence: The role of social ties and collective efficacy in comparative context. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 47(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427809348898Google Scholar
Morenoff, J. D., Sampson, R. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (2001). Neighborhood inequality, collective efficacy, and the spatial dynamics of urban violence. Criminology, 39(3), 517–558. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00932.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Brien, D. T., Gallup, A. C., & Wilson, D. S. (2012, Sep). Residential mobility and prosocial development within a single city. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1–2), 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-011-9468-4Google Scholar
O’Brien, D. T., & Kauffman, R. A., Jr. (2013, Jun). Broken windows and low adolescent prosociality: Not cause and consequence, but co-symptoms of low collective efficacy. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51(3–4), 359–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-012-9555-1Google Scholar
Odgers, C. L., Caspi, A., Bates, C. J., Sampson, R. J., & Moffitt, T. E. (2012, Oct). Systematic social observation of children’s neighborhoods using Google Street View: A reliable and cost-effective method. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53(10), 1009–1017. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02565.xGoogle Scholar
Osgood, D. W., Feinberg, M. E., Gest, S. D., Moody, J., Ragan, D. T., Spoth, R., Greenberg, M., & Redmond, C. (2013, Aug). Effects of PROSPER on the influence potential of prosocial versus antisocial youth in adolescent friendship networks. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(2), 174–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.02.013Google Scholar
Osgood, D. W., Wilson, J. K., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Johnston, L. D. (1996). Routine activities and individual deviant behavior. American Sociological Review, 61(4), 635–655. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096397CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, N. E., Levy, B. L., Sampson, R. J., Small, M. L., & Wang, R. Q. (2021, August.). The social integration of American cities: Network measures of connectedness based on everyday mobility across neighborhoods. Sociological Methods & Research, 50(3), 1110–1149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124119852386Google Scholar
Pinderhughes, E. E., Nix, R., Foster, E. M., Jones, D., & The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2007). Parenting in context: Impact of neighborhood poverty, residential stability, public services, social networks, and danger on parental behaviors. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63(4), 941–953. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00941.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prince, D. M., Hohl, B., Hunter, B. A., Thompson, A. B., Matlin, S. L., Hausman, A. J., & Tebes, J. K. (2019, Mar). Collective efficacy as a key context in neighborhood support for urban youth. American Journal of Community Psychology, 63(1–2), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12311Google Scholar
Putnam, R. D. (1993). The prosperous community. The American Prospect, 4(3).Google Scholar
Rankin, B. H., & Quane, J. M. (2002). Social contexts and urban adolescent outcomes: The interrelated effects of neighborhoods, families, and peers on African-American youth. Social Problems, 49(1), 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2002.49.1.79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raudenbush, S. W., & Sampson, R. J. (1999). Ecometrics: Toward a science of assessing ecological settings, with application to the systematic social observation of neighborhoods. Sociological Methodology, 29(1), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/0081-1750.00059Google Scholar
Romano, E., Tremblay, R. E., Boulerice, B., & Swisher, R. (2005). Multilevel correlates of childhood physical aggression and prosocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33(5), 565–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-6738-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roosa, M. W., Deng, S., Ryu, E., Lockhart Burrell, G., Tein, J.-Y., Jones, S., Lopez, V., & Crowder, S. (2005). Family and child characteristics linking neighborhood context and child externalizing behavior. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(2), 515–529. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2005.00132.xGoogle Scholar
Rulison, K. L., Feinberg, M., Gest, S. D., & Osgood, D. W. (2015, Oct). Diffusion of intervention effects: The impact of a family-based substance use prevention program on friends of participants. Journal of Adolescent Health, 57(4), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.06.007Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J. (2013). The place of context: A theory and strategy for criminology’s hard problems. Criminology, 51(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12002Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Earls, F. (1999). Beyond social capital: Spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children. American Sociological Review, 64(5), 633–660. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657367Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Gannon-Rowley, T. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects”: Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28(1), 443–478. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141114Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277(5328), 918–924. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5328.918Google Scholar
Simons, R. L., Simons, L. G., Burt, C. H., Brody, G. H., & Cutrona, C. (2005). Collective efficacy, authoritative parenting and delinquency: A longitudinal test of a model integrating community- and family-level processes. Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 43(4), 989–1029. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2005.00031.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spoth, R., Greenberg, M., Bierman, K., & Redmond, C. (2004). PROSPER community–university partnership model for public education systems: Capacity-building for evidence-based, competence-building prevention. Prevention Science, 5(1), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PREV.0000013979.52796.8bCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stoddard, S. A., & Pierce, J. (2015, Dec). Promoting positive future expectations during adolescence: The role of assets. American Journal of Community Psychology, 56(3–4), 332–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9754-7Google Scholar
Sullivan, C. J., & Hirschfield, P. (2011, November). Problem behavior in the middle school years: An assessment of the Social Development Model. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 48(4), 566–593. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427810395149Google Scholar
Tobler, A. L., Komro, K. A., & Maldonado-Molina, M. M. (2009, Dec). Relationship between neighborhood context, family management practices and alcohol use among urban, multi-ethnic, young adolescents. Prevention Science, 10(4), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-009-0133-1Google Scholar
Toumbourou, J. W., Rowland, B., Williams, J., Smith, R., & Patton, G. C. (2019, Jun). Community intervention to prevent adolescent health behavior problems: Evaluation of Communities That Care in Australia. Health Psychology, 38(6), 536–544. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000735Google Scholar
Warner, T. D., & Settersten, R. A., Jr. (2017). Why neighborhoods (and how we study them) matter for adolescent development. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 52, 105–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2016.10.003Google Scholar
White, R. M. B., Knight, G. P., Jensen, M., & Gonzales, N. A. (2018, May). Ethnic socialization in neighborhood contexts: Implications for ethnic attitude and identity development among Mexican-origin adolescents. Child Development, 89(3), 1004–1021. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12772Google Scholar
Wilson, D. S., O’Brien, D. T., & Sesma, A. (2009). Human prosociality from an evolutionary perspective: Variation and correlations at a city-wide scale. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(3), 190–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.12.002Google Scholar
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wright, R., John, L., Duku, E., Burgos, G., Krygsman, A., & Esposto, C. (2010). After-school programs as a prosocial setting for bonding between peers. Child & Youth Services, 31(3–4), 74–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2009.524461Google Scholar
Zimmerman, G. M., & Farrell, C. (2017). Parents, peers, perceived risk of harm, and the neighborhood: Contextualizing key influences on adolescent substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 228–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0475-5Google Scholar
Zuberi, A. (2016). Neighborhoods and parenting. Youth & Society, 48(5), 599–627. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x13502365Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×