Gender Equality and Violent Behavior: How Neighborhood Gender Equality Influences the Gender Gap in Violence

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Violence Vict
• Personal Author:
  Lei, Man-Kit ; Simons, Ronald L. ; Simons, Leslie Gordon ; Edmond, Mary Bond
• Description:
  Using a sample of 703 African American adolescents from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS) along with census data from the year 2000, we examine the association between neighborhood-level gender equality and violence. We find that boys' and girls' violent behavior is unevenly distributed across neighborhood contexts. In particular, gender differences in violent behavior are less pronounced in gender-equalitarian neighborhoods compared to those characterized by gender inequality. We also find that the gender gap narrows in gender-equalitarian neighborhoods because boys' rates of violence decrease whereas girls' rates remain relatively low across neighborhoods. This is in stark contrast to the pessimistic predictions of theorists who argue that the narrowing of the gender gap in equalitarian settings is the result of an increase in girls' violence. In addition, the relationship between neighborhood gender equality and violence is mediated by a specific articulation of masculinity characterized by toughness. Our results provide evidence for the use of gender-specific neighborhood prevention programs.
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adolescent Behavior Aggression Black Or African American Crime Victims Family Characteristics Female Humans Interpersonal Relations Male Peer Group Residence Characteristics Sex Distribution

  More +
• Source:
  Violence Vict. 2014; 29(1):89-108
• Pubmed ID:
  24672996
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC3970116
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 AA012768/AA/NIAAA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01CD001645/CD/ODCDC CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R01 DA021898/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; P30 DA027827/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; 2R01AA012768/AA/NIAAA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 MH062669/MH/NIMH NIH HHSUnited States/ ; 1P30DA027827/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; 3R01AA012768-09S1/AA/NIAAA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; MH62669/MH/NIMH NIH HHSUnited States/ ; MH48165/MH/NIMH NIH HHSUnited States/
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:b4c517f30ad5b90e24f71588c79e133cbaf808c8c69dc783e9349af3eada07a3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/29901/cdc_29901_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 730.67 KB ]