Neighborhood socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic composition, and the risk for youth violence: An analysis among Latino, Black, and White adolescents

Studies on Latinos and youth violence are limited by the homogenization of all groups under a pan-ethnic label, obscuring possible differential effects of risk and protective factors across subgroups. Segmented assimilation theories shed some light on sources of differences among Latinos, specifically processes that affect neighborhood socioeconomic and residential environments, which have been associated with differential rates of youth violence. This study examined: 1) the effect of neighborhood SES and racial/ethnic composition on the risk for violent behaviors, and 2) whether neighborhood racial/ethnic composition moderates the association between neighborhood SES and violent behaviors among Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Black, and White youths using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Neighborhood SES was associated with youth violence; however, none of the ethnic minority or mixed neighborhoods differed from White neighborhoods in their risk for violence after accounting for SES. Further, moderation analysis indicated that the effects of neighborhood SES on violence differed in Black and mixed neighborhoods compared to White neighborhoods. Results indicated that neighborhood SES did not have a protective effect among racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods. Moreover, the risk for violent behaviors differed for racial/ethnic minority youths according to the type of neighborhood in which they lived. Implications of findings for youth violence prevention will be discussed.