Neighborhood effects models: A view from the neighborhood

This chapter considers how ethnographic research can inform neighborhood effects models, which explore the developmental consequences of growing up in impoverished, African-American neighborhoods. Proponents of neighborhood effects models argue, based on macro-level demographic data, that inner-city neighborhoods with limited social and economic resources negatively affect child development. Insights from an ethnographic study of low-income African-American families reveal parenting strategies that counter the deleterious effects of growing up in inner-city neighborhoods. Micro-level data add to neighborhood effects models by identifying important neighborhood dimensions, parenting processes, and diverse child outcomes that are omitted in current formulations. Inclusion of ethnographically derived insights can generate more accurate formulations of the relationship between neighborhood contexts and child development.