Effects of neighborhood collective efficacy and violence on antisocial behavior: Dual mediation of socialization and routine activities

The authors examined the effects of neighborhood collective efficacy and violence on adolescents' antisocial behavior tendencies by means of the dual mediation of socialization indices (i.e., social information-processing and self regulation) and routine activities. Collective efficacy and violence exposure were assessed by neighborhood "informal social control" and "social cohesion and trust" during the elementary and junior high school years, and the frequency of violence in the community during junior high and high school years. Normative beliefs about aggression, cognitive distortions, social rule appropriateness and self regulation were used to assess both the positive and negative indices of socialization. Routine activities were assessed by the experience in unstructured socializing activities. Antisocial tendencies were assessed by evaluations of the seriousness and past experience of delinquent behaviors. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that the effect of collective efficacy on antisocial tendencies was perfectly mediated by the socialization indices, whereas experienced violence was partly mediated by routine activities. Possible improvements of this dual mediation model were discussed.