The Relationships between Perceived Insecurity in the Neighborhood and Civic Engagement in Late Adolescents Cover Image

Suvokto nesaugumo kaimynystėje ir paauglių pilietiškumo sąryšis
The Relationships between Perceived Insecurity in the Neighborhood and Civic Engagement in Late Adolescents

Author(s): Saulė Raižienė
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Mykolas Romeris University
Keywords: perceived insecurity; neighborhood; adolescent civic engagement

Summary/Abstract: The present study examines how perceived insecurity in the neighborhood affects adolescent civic engagement: directly or indirectly via subjective well-being; and whether these relationships are the same for boys and girls. Participants included 2651 adolescents (1488 girls and 1163 boys), aged 15 to 18. The participants filled out a questionnaire, which consisted of the Civic Commitment Scale, adopted from Flanagan et al. (2007), the Future Civic Activity Scale, adopted from Paltie and Seydo (2003), the Fear of Crime Scale (Tolano, Gorman-Smith, Henry, 2001), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Pavit, Diener, 1993). Path analysis indicated that an unsafe neighborhood leads to girls’ and boys’ lower level of subjective well-being and when they are less satisfied with their life, their civic engagement decreases. Only for boys, but not for girls, the unsafe neighborhood could directly encourage boys to actively participate in community life.

  • Issue Year: 11/2012
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 187-196
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Lithuanian