ABSTRACT
At the outset of the 1990s, Jencks and Mayer (1990) argued that if “neighborhood effects” exist, presumably they are constituted from social processes that involve collective aspects of community life (e.g., contagion, socialization, and institutions). Their assessment was ultimately pessimistic, however, for few studies could be found that measured and identified neighborhood social processes. The reason is that the data sources on which neighborhood researchers have traditionally relied most heavily-the U.S. Census and other government or administrative statistics-provide information on the sociodemographic composition of statistical neighborhoods (e.g., census tracts or ZIP codes) but do not tell us what is actually happening within these places that might affect child and adolescent well-being. Jencks and Mayer’s challenge was formidable.
