Gender Differences of Neighborhood and Social Control Processes

A Study of the Timing of First Intercourse among Low-achieving, Urban, African American Youth

Bibliographic Data

ID2328652
AuthorsJesus Ramirez-Valles (0000-0002-2419-9136, University of Illinois Chicago, corresponding author), Marc A Zimmerman (0000-0001-5064-4259, University of Michigan), Lucia Juarez (0000-0002-3488-7661, University of Alabama at Birmingham)
Year2002
Volume33
Issue3
Pages418-441
Publication date2002-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueYouth & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0044-118X • E-ISSN: 1552-8499
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0044118x02033003004
OpenAlexW2032403276
LanguageEN
Citations received49
References cited50

This study examines the gender-specific contextual and individual socioeconomic predictors of the timing of first intercourse among low-achieving African American youth. Following financial deprivation and collective socialization theories, the authors test separate models for males and females and include neighborhood poverty and race composition, family social class position, and social control mechanisms such as family structure, parental involvement, and prosocial activities as predictors. The sample comprises 558 African American high school students followed over a 3-year period. For young women, the significant predictors are age, mother's education, time with mother, and involvement in church activities. For young men, the significant factors are school achievement, an interaction between living in an two-parent family and time with father, participation in family decision making, and neighborhood poverty level. Thus, males and females are differently affected by social control processes and neighborhood poverty plays a significant role in young African American men's sexual behaviors

Developmental psychology · Population · Poverty · Prosocial behavior · Social class · Socialization · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology · Social Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies