THE ROLE OF NEIGHBORHOOD COLLECTIVE EFFICACY AND FEAR OF CRIME IN SOCIALIZATION OF COPING WITH VIOLENCE IN LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES

The influences of public housing, caregiver fear of crime, and collective efficacy on messages caregivers relay to their offspring regarding coping with community and peer violence were examined using a 3-wave prospective design. Caregivers (N = 358; 92% African American/Black) living in moderate to high violence areas of a midsized southern city completed face-to-face interviews. Coping suggestions were coded at Wave 3 from audiotaped responses to a vignette measure depicting five neighborhood-based and five school-based situations involving violence or aggression. Path models indicated that residing in public or Section 8 housing was associated with greater fear of crime and lower collective efficacy. Fear of crime was associated with more suggestions to use active coping strategies for neighborhood-based situations involving violence; collective efficacy was associated with messages to use less aggression for school-based situations. These findings extend our understanding of caregiver socialization of coping processes in poor and underresourced neighborhoods.