Contextual factors of sexual risk-taking in urban African American preadolescent children

Conducted focus groups with African American [12-13 yr olds], parents, and community leaders to elaborate the details of the social context in which preadolescents from an inner-city Chicago housing development begin to make choices about sexual activity / raises questions about how exposure to chronic poverty and violence affects decision making around high risk sexual behaviors / argue that prevention efforts cannot succeed if they fail to consider the broader picture of these preadolescent's lives and fail to integrate their early knowledge about sexual activity and concerns about personal safety with their decisions about engagement in early sexual activity.