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Race, Code of the Street, and Violent Delinquency: A Multilevel Investigation of Neighborhood Street Culture and Individual Norms of Violence

NCJ Number
231006
Journal
Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 569-606
Author(s)
Eric A. Stewart; Ronald L. Simons
Date Published
May 2010
Length
38 pages
Annotation
The study outlined in this article drew on Elijah Anderson's (1999) code of the street perspective to examine the impact of neighborhood street culture on violent delinquency.
Abstract
Consistent with Anderson's hypotheses, neighborhood street culture significantly predicts violent delinquency independent of individual-level street code effects. Additionally, neighborhood street culture moderates individual-level street code values on violence in neighborhoods where the street culture is widespread. In particular, the effect of street code values on violence is enhanced in neighborhoods where the street culture is endorsed widely. Using data from more than 700 African American adolescents, the study examined 1) whether neighborhood street culture predicts adolescent violence above and beyond an adolescent's own street code values and 2) whether neighborhood street culture moderates individual-level street code values on adolescent violence. Tables, figure, references, and appendix (Published Abstract)