cjrc-sponsored research

  • Project:
  • Neighborhood Context and the Causes and Consequences of Street Drug Use

  • Investigator:
  • Paul E. Bellair (Sociology)

  • Abstract:
  • Life course (LC) theories posit that the probability of criminological outcomes such as drug use, drug dealing, property, and violent crime increase over time as circumstances change for the worse. Many LC models place substantial emphasis on neighborhood-level disadvantage such as poverty and unemployment, arguing that disadvantage influences outcomes above and beyond the effect of individual-level process. Despite the prominence of neighborhood disadvantage in many LC perspectives, hypotheses asserting the causal import of neighborhood disadvantage are rarely subjected to empirical verification. The present research is designed to address this gap in the literature. The study is based on life history interviews with approximately 250 subjects incarcerated in Ohio correctional facilities. The interview instrument is designed to test hypotheses pertaining to the neighborhood context of criminal behavior.