Neighborhood bystander intervention in intimate partner abuse: The role of social cohesion.

This study examines the relationships among individual beliefs about intimate partner abuse (IPA), attitudes about IPA reporting, social cohesion, and the intention of intervening in neighborhood IPA. Data for this study come from a larger cross-sectional, community-based study in which participants (N = 1,626) were surveyed face to face using stratified random sampling in targeted communities in a Mountain West state (i.e., drop-off, pick-up method) and online using social media outreach in targeted communities. Linear regression results indicated that participants were less likely to intervene in IPA situations in their neighborhood if they held beliefs about the private nature of IPA or feared retaliation. Additionally, social cohesion was positively associated with participants' intention of intervening in IPA situations in their neighborhood. Our findings suggest potential avenues for community intervention that attempt to build communitywide beliefs that IPA is a community-level concern and one that demands attention from the entire community.

How Neighborhood Effects Vary: Childbearing and Fathering among Latino and African American Adolescents.

This study examines what neighborhood conditions experienced at age 15 and after are associated with teen childbearing and fathering among Latino and African American youth and whether these neighborhood effects vary by gender and/or ethnicity. Administrative and survey data from a natural experiment are used for a sample of 517 Latino and African American youth whose families were quasi-randomly assigned to public housing operated by the Denver (CO) Housing Authority (DHA). Characteristics of the neighborhood initially assigned by DHA to wait list applicants are utilized as identifying instruments for the neighborhood contexts experienced during adolescence. Cox Proportional Hazards (PH) models reveal that neighborhoods having higher percentages of foreign-born residents but lower levels of social capital robustly predict reduced odds of teen parenting though the magnitude of these effects was contingent on gender and ethnicity. Specifically, the presence of foreign-born neighbors on the risk of teen parenting produced a stronger dampening effect for African American youth when compared to Latino youth. Additionally, the effects of social capital on teen parenting were stronger for males than females.