From the Preface
"It takes a village to raise a child" is a saying seemingly imbued with wisdom that cuts across time and place. Indeed, studies from a variety of disciplines have found evidence that community and neighborhood factors play a role in people's decisions to marry and have children (in or out of marriage), family stability, childrearing strategies, and children's psychosocial functioning and educational achievement. As studies have become more sophisticated, however, there has been increasing debate about community and neighborhood effects; indeed, some studies have found little evidence that they make an independent contribution, net of residents' own personal characteristics. Given this ambiguity in findings, and the important policy and program ramifications of this area of research, the time is right to bring together a talented, interdisciplinary group of researchers and program experts to consider what is known about how communities and neighborhood make their mark on families, children, and adolescents.
How Do Communities Undergird or Undermine Human Development? What Are the Relevant Contexts and What Mechanisms Are at Work?
Lead Speaker: Robert Sampson, University of Chicago
Discussants:
James Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in Education
Barry Lee, Pennsylvania State University
Douglas Massey, University of Pennsylvania
How Do Neighborhoods Enhance or Interfere with Families' Abilities to Raise Children?
Lead Speaker: Margaret Spencer, University of Pennsylvania
Discussants:
Jill Korbin, Case Western Reserve University
Scott South, SUNY-Albany
Mercer Sullivan, Vera Institute of Justice
How Do Neighborhoods Affect the Development of Adolescent Problem Behavior?
Lead Speaker: Greg Duncan, Northwestern University
Discussants:
John Billy, Battelle Institute
Linda Burton, Pennsylvania State University
Stephen Small, University of Wisconsin
What Policies Can Strengthen Neighborhoods as Contexts for Child and Adolescent Well-Being?
Lead Speaker: James Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in Education
Discussants:
Ralph Taylor, Temple University
Mark Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University
Dale Blyth, Search Institute
Book Citation
Booth, Alan and Ann C. Crouter (2001). Does It Take a Village? Community Effects on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
To purchase the book: www.psypress.com