While college access and choice processes are well documented, the post-college residential mobility of graduates has ramifications for the long-term benefits of state and local investments in education. In particular, we examine factors that shape whether youth who depart home for college return to the communities of their adolescence by middle…

Examines the sociocultural influences on risk of first sex among Hispanic teens living in Los Angeles County. Hispanic teens living in low-density Hispanic neighborhoods have significantly higher risk of sex than do teens living in neighborhoods with higher levels of ambient hazards. Results highlight the importance of characterizing sociocultural…

The proliferation of community power structure studies and their results have led many social researchers to the conclusion that the principle explanation for many diverse findings rests with the disciplinary bias of the researchers. The purpose of this study was to make some tentative effort at explaining power structure characteristics as a…

Demonstrates how concepts derived from General Systems Theory can be used to understand and treat families living in impoverished, isolated rural communities in the South. Suggests interventions frequently need to be directed at the community system as a whole if community rules are to be modified for second-order change. (Author)

This paper examines pregnancy in early adolescence, among West Virginia females aged 10-14, as it relates to local economic and social contexts. Although research on adolescent pregnancy is substantial, it is generally limited to the experiences of older adolescents and premised on assumptions of methodological individualism--that the correlates…

Children's outcomes are strongly correlated with those of their neighbours. The extent to which this is causal is the subject of an extensive literature. An identification problem exists because people with similar characteristics are observed to live in close proximity. Another major difficulty is that neighbourhoods measured in available data…

This study explored the effect of community background on the development of adolescent ambition, using longitudinal interviews to probe subjects' own definitions and evaluations of progress toward the "good life." Sixty high ability working class youths from three New England towns varying in size, urban proximity, and social class…