Central City Residents Research Articles

The Social and Demographic Correlates of Divorce and Separation in the United States: An Update and Reconsideration

This study examines the social and demographic correlates of divorce and legal separation in the US using data from the National Opinion Research Centers General Social Surveys for the mid to late 1970s. Blacks generally have much higher rates of marriage dissolution than whites; but due to small numbers of blacks in the sample this study deals only with whites. The divorce rate is much higher for those who marry at or near age 20 than for those who marry later. Frequent attendance of religious services has a strong negative correlation with divorce. The divorce rate is higher for Protestants than for Catholics and higher for Catholics than for Jews. Persons with no religion have the highest divorce rate of all. In the US divorce rates generally increase from East to West and from North to South. People living in the central cities of the larger SMSAs have higher divorce rates; suburban rates are similar to those for rural areas and smaller cities. In general the higher the socioeconomic status the lower the divorce rate although some evidence indicates that people who do not finish a unit of education may also have higher divorce rates. Divorced women are more likely to work possibly because of economic necessity. For men the 4 socioeconomic variables--educational status occupation occupational prestige and income--do not explain as much variation in the divorce rate as age at first marriage or frequency of attendance of religious services; for women the socioeconomic variables explain more of the variation in the divorce rate than other variables but not much more. The authors propose that the higher divorce rate groups--those without religion residents of the divorce belt and central city residents--may be less likely to be integrated into social groups characterized by similar values and social control.

Residential Burglary in the United States: Life-Style and Demographic Factors Associated With the Probability of Victimization

This study both ascertains the characteristics of individuals and their life styles that are differentially related to risk of residential burglary and tests a hypothesis that accounts for certain discrepant findings reported in previous studies of burglary victimization. Using Goodman's log-linear technique to analyze (1975-76) Na tional Crime Survey data, we find that 2,133 of 54,343 households in the sample were burglarized in a twelve-month reference period. The following types of persons headed households with greater than average odds of burglary victimization: (1) central city residents, (2) the young, (3) persons with incomes higher or lower than average, (4) nonwhites, and (5) persons whose homes are unoccupied relatively often. The types of persons heading households least likely to be burglarized were the following: (1) older citizens, (2) persons residing outside the central city, (3) citizens in middle-income categories, and (4) persons whose homes are occupied relatively often. In general, the data support Hindelang's hypothesis that differences in the findings of previous burglary studies on variations in the burglary rate for whites across income categories may be due to different sampling procedures.

The Urban Condition: Resident Perspectives

If economics is the dismal science, urbanology can but be a close second. This was particularly true in the sixties, which opened with the publication of Jane Jacobs’ scathing attack on city planning and redevelopment (The Death and Life of Great American Cities) and concluded some ten years later with articles by George Sternlieb and Norton Long likening the city to sandboxes and reservations, respectively. Three types of indicators (satisfaction, problems, and services) lend further support to the image of the city as an economic, recreational, and entertainment center. At the same time, inhabitants express reservations about its ability to ensure their safety and its suitability for child rearing. In general, respondents had a positive view of the city as a place to live; still, they were less positive than were inhabitants living in suburbs, towns, and rural areas. The major concerns expressed by urban residents paralleled those identified by the total sample: crime, unemployment, and drug addiction. However, these (and other) problems are felt much more intensely in the cities. Respondents living in the cities felt the level and quality of public services available to them to be generally satisfactory and, in certain areas, rated them higher than did inhabitants of other locales. However, this generally positive evaluation did not extend to two critical service areas: police protection and public schools. Finally, there are substantial disparities between the attitudes of racial groups, residents of large and small central cities, and inhabitants of cities with increasing and declining population. In general, racial minorities are less satisfied with the quality of life in the cities and with the public services available to them; they are more apt to identify more problems and to rate them as severe. In general, persons living in smaller cities or in cities which are growing in population will rate their services more highly while feeling their problems to be less severe.

Intrametropolitan migration: A simultaneous model of employment and residential location of white and black households

This study explores the relationship between the home and job location of the household within a metropolitan area. The model is an extension of the Alonso-Muth framework and allows the household to simultaneously choose its residential and employment location, monthly rent, number of rooms and the type of structure of the dwelling unit, so as to maximize its utility subject to the budget constraint. The data base is the Home Interview Survey conducted in 1965 by the (San Francisco) Bay Area Transportation Study Commission. The coefficients in the simultaneous model are estimated by two-stage least squares. The cross-section sample is stratified by tenure into renters and homeowners; by race into black and white households; and further by position in the life-cycle. The results of the location equations reveal that both the home and job location are responsive to each other which implies that the decentralization of jobs will result in the decentralization of residences for black households. The results of the housing equations imply that black and white households have almost identical elasticity of demand for housing. There is very slight evidence of price discrimination against black households. However, there is evidence that black households do face a geographical segregated market for rental housing. The results of this study argue that the decentralization of population is not due solely to rising incomes and will continue as long as industry decentralizes. Furthermore, governmental policies of increasing the income of central city residents, through subsidies to employers to locate in the central city will have a strong effect: inducing those residents to remain in or move into the central city. Thus, a policy that is meant to alleviate the plight of the city center may only result in strengthening the racial and income split between the suburb and the central city inhabitants.

Contraception and Pregnancy: Experience of Young Unmarried Women in the United States

We have previously described the sexual experience of unmarried U.S. teenagers based on interviews obtained in 1971 from a national sample of 4,611 young women 15-19 years of age.1 That article dealt largely with the sexual behavior of 2,839 white (i.e., nonblack) and 1,401 black never-married teenagers who, as a group, constitute 92 percent of the total sample (eight percent were or had been married). We found that about 28 percent of never-married young women aged 15-19 report having had sexual intercourse. This proportion rises from 14 percent at age 15 to 46 percent by age 19. (The proportion of teenagers who have premarital intercourse is higher, since about 60 percent of married teenagers report having had intercourse prior to marriage. Teenagers who come from poverty homes are not much more likely than their more affluent sisters to be sexually experienced. Faithful church attendance, rural background and a high level of confiding in parents are negatively associated with sexual experience. Migrant status and central city residence are associated positively with sexual experience. Socioeconomic factors are generally less significantly associated with sexual experience among whites than among blacks. We found that race ac-

The three R's: Residence, religion, and reproduction

Abstract Survey research data collected in Rhode Island over a three year interval are used to test six propositions: 1) Suburbanites have higher family size than central city residents. 2) Any differences in family size between Catholics and non-Catholics are larger in central city than in suburban areas. 3) Within religious categories, suburbanites attend church more regularly. 4) Among Catholics, suburban residence is associated with less frequent Communion reception. 5) Among Catholics, church attendance frequency is positively associated with family size. Among non-Catholics no relationship exists. 6) The frequency with which Catholics receive Communion is more strongly associated positively with family size than is church attendance frequency. Propositions 1, 2 and 5 are rejected. Propositions 4 and 6 are accepted. Proposition 3 is accepted for non-Catholics only.

The Structuring of Social Relationships Engendered by Suburban Residence

T iS the major objective of this paper to examine the characteristics of suburban communities as they relate to the structuring of ' of the resident populations. This presumes that the form taken by these phenomena in suburban communities somehow differs from the form to be observed in other types of communities, and, furthermore, that this difference is engendered by the suburban situation. The writer knows of no published research which provides substantial evidence to support either of these ideas. Numerous studies have been made of participation and interaction on the neighborhood and community level, but they are concerned almost entirely with the description of these patterns as observed in individual, unrelated, and relatively unique residential areas. To the extent that all communities have a common core of characteristics it can be expected that this common influence is conducive to the development of similar patterns of interaction in all communities.2 However, it can be hypothesized that the large urban center, the suburban community, and the rural village present such different situations that importantly different patterns of interaction are generated.3 If it is accepted for purposes of discussion that the structuring of in suburbs does differ importantly from the patterns found in nonsuburban communities, there still remains the basic question: To what extent is this structuring influenced by the nature of the suburban situation? corollary question is: What aspects of the suburban situation exert an influence on relationship patterns and in what way? These questions suggest that a classification of suburban characteristics will be required to deal with the general problem. These categories must make it possible to classify and examine independently the various aspects of the suburban situation as they relate to the structuring of which occur in such communities. Obviously other questions can be posed about the relationship between suburban status and relationship patterns. The present analysis is restricted to as dependent variables, even though it is recognized that for many purposes it may be desirable to treat them as independent variables. Suburban places make up an extremely * Revised version of a paper read at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Society, Washington, D. C., September, 1955. The writer is indebted to Jack P. Gibbs for helpful suggestions regarding the revision. 1 In this paper social relationships refers both to patterns of interaction between two or more individuals in informal situations and to participation in more formally organized associations. Since much of so called informal interaction takes place before, during, and after formally organized meetings, it is difficult to isolate the two types. Separation was not essential to the purpose of this discussion. 2There is evidence that in the United States variations in interaction and participation are rather uniformly associated with variations in socio-economic status, length of residence, and accessibility to interaction opportunities regardless of the type of community. See Walter T. Martin, A Consideration of Differences in the Extent and Location of the Formal Associational Activities of Fringe Residents, American Sociological Review, 17 (December, 1952), passim. 3 In spite of considerable literature regarding the differences found between cities, suburbs, and rural villages in their relative emphasis on neighboring, visiting, and participation in secondary groups, to the writer's knowledge only Key has made a systematic comparison. Key used six scales to compare various patterns of for rural areas, villages, small urban places, and two large cities. His findings support some but not all of the usual claims made about differences in found among these types of communities. Unfortunately his analysis did not include suburbs. [William H. Key, Rural-Urban Differences in Social Participation, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Washington University, 1953.] Sylvia Fleis Fava is presently comparing neighboring patterns among suburbanites and central city residents. [Suburbanism as a Way of Life, American Sociological Review, 21 (February, 1956), p. 37.]