Ecology of Youth Collective Socialization

Abstract

Collective socialization (CS) is a set of neighborhood social processes that can act as a protective or risk factor for youths. CS can create trust and social cohesion reflecting the positive attributes of a neighborhood. Research emphasizes CS as a neighborhood influence, but other theoretical models suggest that CS simultaneously exists within other aspects of the social ecology as it works through the peer group and school components to influence outcomes in youths. The current study extends theories of CS by examining how multiple social ecology influences—peer, school, and neighborhood—are related to youths’ wellbeing and school misbehavior. The School Success Profile data (N= 20,749 middle school and high school youths) were used to test the hypothesis that peer, school, and neighborhood CS processes are related to these outcomes. Structural equation models indicate that both positive and negative outcomes in youths are affected by multiple social ecology influences. The discussion provides suggestions for future research to inform interventions specific to the multiple aspects of the social ecology.