ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the influence of a specific set of environmental factors on children's well being. Both residential crowding and the fact of residing in high-rise buildings have been considered possible threats to children's health and psychological development but these relationships have not been well documented. This chapter first presents a review of research on children and density, then provides a description of recent research conducted by the author that more completely investigates these issues,
From a theoretical perspective there are good reasons to expect that residential density will have an impact on children, particularly on low-income children such as those studied here. When a household resides in a smaller space, the chances of being in each others' company would be expected to increase and the ability to escape such encounters would decrease. Thus, the ability of household members to cope with each other's presence would be more severely tested and the possibility of conflict greater. Adults in this situation have several advantages including greater authority to determine the nature of interactions and more mature social skills. Furthermore, they can for the most part determine their own comings and goings. Children frequently require adult permission to leave the dwelling unit, and sometimes must be accompanied by an adult. Ways that adults cope with crowding may negatively affect children's psychological development. For example, Parke (1978) points out the wide range of environmental experiences that affect children's social, cognitive and emotional development and emphasizes the critical role of the parents in providing positive environmental experiences for children. Thus adults who either withdraw or behave aggressively toward a child as the result of crowding pressure may themself
not experience any lasting harm but may interfere with the psychological adjustment and development of the child.
