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Neighborhood and Friendship Composition in Adolescence

Edling, Christofer LU orcid and Rydgren, Jens (2012) In SAGE Open
Abstract
The social surroundings in which an individual grows up and spends his or her everyday life have an effect on his or her life chances. Much of the research into this phenomenon focuses on so-called neighborhood effects and has put particular emphasis on the negative effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood. Originating from the sociological study of inner-city problems in the United States, the research has recently been embraced by Scandinavian social scientists, who have generally assessed the phenomenon with reference to social network effects and the lock-in effects of ethnic enclaves. We critique the theoretical assumptions that we find in recent Scandinavian research and argue that a straightforward interpretation of neighborhood... (More)
The social surroundings in which an individual grows up and spends his or her everyday life have an effect on his or her life chances. Much of the research into this phenomenon focuses on so-called neighborhood effects and has put particular emphasis on the negative effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood. Originating from the sociological study of inner-city problems in the United States, the research has recently been embraced by Scandinavian social scientists, who have generally assessed the phenomenon with reference to social network effects and the lock-in effects of ethnic enclaves. We critique the theoretical assumptions that we find in recent Scandinavian research and argue that a straightforward interpretation of neighborhood effects in terms of network effects is problematic. Our argument is based on an empirical analysis of friendship circles of ninth graders in Stockholm (N = 240). We conclude that the friendship networks of ninth graders extend well beyond the neighborhood, thus casting serious doubt on the network effects assumption of previous research. We also conclude that there is nothing in the reality of these ninth graders that confirms the established concept of the ethnic enclave. (Less)
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author
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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ethnicity, adolescence, social interaction, friendship, neighborhood, sociologi, sociology
in
SAGE Open
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:84883211562
ISSN
2158-2440
DOI
10.1177/2158244012466249
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e353581e-c9d6-4ccb-875e-5bd2e20c6f9c (old id 3217125)
alternative location
http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/2/4/2158244012466249.abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:00:28
date last changed
2023-09-03 08:09:04
@article{e353581e-c9d6-4ccb-875e-5bd2e20c6f9c,
  abstract     = {{The social surroundings in which an individual grows up and spends his or her everyday life have an effect on his or her life chances. Much of the research into this phenomenon focuses on so-called neighborhood effects and has put particular emphasis on the negative effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood. Originating from the sociological study of inner-city problems in the United States, the research has recently been embraced by Scandinavian social scientists, who have generally assessed the phenomenon with reference to social network effects and the lock-in effects of ethnic enclaves. We critique the theoretical assumptions that we find in recent Scandinavian research and argue that a straightforward interpretation of neighborhood effects in terms of network effects is problematic. Our argument is based on an empirical analysis of friendship circles of ninth graders in Stockholm (N = 240). We conclude that the friendship networks of ninth graders extend well beyond the neighborhood, thus casting serious doubt on the network effects assumption of previous research. We also conclude that there is nothing in the reality of these ninth graders that confirms the established concept of the ethnic enclave.}},
  author       = {{Edling, Christofer and Rydgren, Jens}},
  issn         = {{2158-2440}},
  keywords     = {{ethnicity; adolescence; social interaction; friendship; neighborhood; sociologi; sociology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{SAGE Open}},
  title        = {{Neighborhood and Friendship Composition in Adolescence}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3720006/4186660.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/2158244012466249}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}