A recent seminar featuring renowned sociologist Chris Browning revealed compelling findings related to where teens spend their time and how neighborhood racial composition impacts stress and feelings of safety.
The ongoing study led by Ohio State professor Browning has revealed that black teens feel less safe when in white neighborhoods, and surprisingly, this feeling increases as they spend more time in white areas.
Other key findings shared at the seminar hosted by CHRR:
- Feeling less safe in white neighborhoods is particularly pronounced for black male teens. Also, as their exposure to white neighborhoods increases, the probability of engaging in risk behaviors increases.
- Teens from disadvantaged neighborhoods spend less time in their home neighborhoods, compared to other teens. This is due to an absence of local schools and higher violence.
- Black teens who live in black neighborhoods spend most of their time in predominantly white neighborhoods.
The ongoing project at the heart of Browning’s research is the Adolescent Health and Development in Context (AHDC) study, which focuses on a large sample of youth ages 11-17 in Central Ohio. CHRR is a long-time AHDC partner, helping Browning and his team execute the research and collect the data for more than 10 years. The seminar kicked off a year-long celebration of CHRR's 60th anniversary.
Watch the full seminar here: