Chapter 3: Family and Neighborhood Environments and the Adjustment and Achievement of African American Adolescents

Research has shown that the economic resources of the home are linked to children's and adolescents' social behavior (McLoyd, 1990, 1997). Research has also shown that parents' parenting style and parenting practices in the home are linked to African American adolescents' behavior and adjustment (Taylor, 1996; Taylor & Roberts, 1995). This paper reviews and discusses such research, linking key social environments in which African American adolescents reside and interact to their social adjustment and achievement. Specifically, the association between important aspects of the home and family and adolescents' behavior and well-being is considered.

Also reviewed here are findings on the relations between adolescents' neighborhoods and their well-being. A long standing argument in the literature on African American adolescents and families suggests that because African American families are more likely to live in distressed and dangerous communities, parents adopt parenting styles and behavior designed to protect their adolescents and enhance their well-being. A growing body of research has examined the role of neighborhoods or community characteristics in the adjustment and psychological functioning of African American youngsters (Brooks-Gun, Duncan, & Aber, 1997; Crane, 1991; Taylor, 2000). Some of this work, in addition to examining the effects of neighborhoods on adolescents, has also assessed the processes explaining the links between attributes of communities and adolescents' behavior (Sampson & Laub, 1994; Sampson & Morenoff, 1997). This chapter first considers the direct effects of aspects of the home and neighborhood on adolescents' behavior and then considers the evidence for processes mediating or moderating these effects.