National Symposium on Family Issues

Does It Take a Village? Community Effects on Children, Adolescents, and Families

The chapters in this volume are based on the presentations and discussions from the sixth annual National Symposium on Family Issues, held at the Pennsylvania State University November 5-6, 1998.

Citation
Booth, Alan and Ann C. Crouter (2001). Does It Take a Village? Community Effects on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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From the Preface
"It takes a village to raise a child" is a saying seemingly imbued with wisdom that cuts across time and place. Indeed, studies from a variety of disciplines have found evidence that community and neighborhood factors play a role in people's decisions to marry and have children (in or out of marriage), family stability, childrearing strategies, and children's psychosocial functioning and educational achievement. As studies have become more sophisticated, however, there has been increasing debate about community and neighborhood effects; indeed, some studies have found little evidence that they make an independent contribution, net of residents' own personal characteristics. Given this ambiguity in findings, and the important policy and program ramifications of this area of research, the time is right to bring together a talented, interdisciplinary group of researchers and program experts to consider what is known about how communities and neighborhood make their mark on families, children, and adolescents.

Key Topics

1. How Do Communities Undergird or Undermine Human Development? What Are the Relevant Contexts and What Mechanisms Are at Work?

Lead Speaker: Robert Sampson, University of Chicago

Discussants:

• James Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in Education
• Barry Lee, Pennsylvania State University
• Douglas Massey, University of Pennsylvania

2. How Do Neighborhoods Enhance or Interfere with Families' Abilities to Raise Children?

Lead Speaker: Margaret Spencer, University of Pennsylvania

Discussants:

• Jill Korbin, Case Western Reserve University
• Scott South, SUNY-Albany
• Mercer Sullivan, Vera Institute of Justice

3. How Do Neighborhoods Affect the Development of Adolescent Problem Behavior?

Lead Speaker: Greg Duncan, Northwestern University

Discussants:

• John Billy, Battelle Institute
• Linda Burton, Pennsylvania State University
• Stephen Small, University of Wisconsin

4. What Policies Can Strengthen Neighborhoods as Contexts for Child and Adolescent Well-Being?

Lead Speaker: James Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in Education

Discussants:

• Ralph Taylor, Temple University
• Mark Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University
• Dale Blyth, Search Institute

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