Association between the Neighborhoods You Live in and Violence in Baltimore, MD

Background:  Urban neighborhoods in the United States are segregated by wealth; however, the heterogeneity of health experiences within neighborhoods is discussed less and also exists. 

Objectives: 1) Describe frequencies of fear, observation, and victimization (in schools and neighborhoods) in adolescents; 2) test associations between fear, observation, and victimization across 5 Community Statistical Areas (CSAs) in East Baltimore.

Study: ACASI interviews were conducted amongst a sample of 15-19 year olds from low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore recruited through respondent-driven sampling.  Multivariable regressions were conducted using violence as the outcome, CSAs as the independent variable and demographic variables as controls.

Results: Over 80% of youth experienced any kind of violence, while 41.2% of respondents reported being hurt or threatened with a weapon.  Four of the CSAs were associated with statistically higher levels of fear; however, only two were associated with higher levels of observed violence.  Only youth living in one CSA reported higher levels of victimization in their neighborhood while youth in three CSAs reported more victimization at school.  Finally, pushing, shoving, or verbal threats were more common than violence with a weapon at.  These differences in type of violence experienced did not exist in the neighborhood.

Conclusions: There are differences in experiences of violence for youth living in neighborhoods characterized by poverty and violence in East Baltimore.  This is true for levels as well as types of violence and understanding which youth in which areas are more at risk for experiencing certain types of violence should shape our violence prevention efforts.