In the world history, the term Ghetto was first coined to refer to a walled-off area in late or rather medieval towns in Venice where the Jews were both restricted and segregated. Following this, the term has also been defined as a part of particular city where a large group of minority people live due to legal, economic, as well as legal pressure or hardships which in most instances results in the formation of a thickly populated slum area (Williams, 2017). Throughout history, most scholars have viewed the somewhat iconic social form of the modern day ghetto as having racial components, and being primarily defined by factors such as gross inequality, low property values, dilapidated infrastructure in terms of housing, and commercial over-zoning, social isolation, little private/public investment, racial segregation, as well as consistent poverty (Williams, 2017).
Other key elements linked with modern-day ghettos include high crime levels, high school dropout rates, delinquency, inadequate municipal services, and high unemployment levels. According to the Bureau of Census, the term ghetto generally, refers to areas of extreme poverty whereby, their overall poverty rate; thus in a census tract is ultimately greater that 40% or more. Hence, more than 40% of the total population lives sin absolute poverty (Hagedorn, 2007). This paper therefore; through detailed research, seeks to determine the effects of the ghetto on youth.
Effects of Ghetto on Youth
In the US, in accordance to statistics, ghettos tend to be highly segregated in terms of race, as a result, most minority groups have resided in ghetto areas with African Americans begin largely represented in ghettos for most part of US history. Generally, the formation of black ghettos/neighborhoods in the US is largely attributed to Jim Crow segregation laws, income inequality, redlining, as well as mortgage lending discrimination among other factors (Hagedorn, 2007). According to numerous research studies some of the effects of ghetto on the youth include,
Crime and Delinquency
Research studies indicate that people tend to be shaped by the environment in which they reside in. Concerning this, past research indicates that one of the main forces that drives the overall impact of neighborhoods; thus on people’s life outcomes is exposure to violence, therefore, residing within ghettos which tend to be disorganized, disadvantaged and experience high-crime rates increases the propensity of youth delinquency, as well as their engagement in criminal activities (Strickland et al., 2009). Furthermore, research also indicates that poor urban youths are also at a risk of co-occurring behavioral and emotional symptoms inclusive of poor psychosocial functioning marked by disruptive behavioral problems, and aggression. Therefore, witnessing violence serves as one of the primary risk factors for youth’s future aggression (Strickland et al., 2009).
Generally, one of the ways in which the ghetto promotes delinquency, as well as youth engagement in crimes is through socioeconomic disadvantage; thus at the community level. In relation to this, ghettos are areas marked by high poverty levels as a result, most youths are forced to engage in criminal activities such as theft, participation in gang-related activities as well as drug dealing as a means for survival (Boardman, "Onge, 2005). Another way that ghetto promotes youth’s participation in criminal activities and delinquency is due to availability of few employment opportunities, concerning this, one of the common features of modern-day ghetto is reduced public and private investment into these areas as a result, which, in, turn affects the availability of employment opportunities. Criminal behavior among many youths in the ghetto is also directly caused by increased peer pressure to participate in criminals activities or even join gang affiliations which are involved in criminal activities. Moreover, decreased parental supervision is also common in ghetto areas; this is due to the fact that parents are often forced to juggle between two or more jobs in order to provide for the families often spending a lot of time working; hence, less supervision. Following this, youths are easily influenced into engaging what can be termed as delinquent or rather criminal behavior since parental monitoring is one of the protective factors in reducing the risk of youth’s engagement both delinquency and criminal behavior (Boardman, "Onge, 2005).
Research indicates that approximately 80% of youths residing in poor community areas deemed as ghettos have experienced and more than 70% of them were victims of violence. Following this, the cumulative effects of what can be termed as chronic exposure to community violence is desensitization of youths to violence as well as emulation of violent and aggressive behavior as well as the view of aggressive behavior as an acceptable, appropriate, effective, normative as well as justified means to solve conflicts (Strickland et al., 2009). As a result, youths in ghetto tend not to develop the appropriate conflict-solving social skills or rather obtaining the desired goals; hence, promoting delinquency.
Moreover, exposure to ghetto violence also increases youth’s hypersensitiveness to cues of threats; whereby, they are quickly to respond to them while overlooking existing situational factors that influenced the other person’s behavior. In addition, prolonged exposure to violence also results in hostile attribution bias which generally influences their overall interpretation of situation, and as a result infer greater hostility to ambiguous behaviors by other individuals, therefore, exposure to prolonged violence promotes delinquency behavior which can evolve into criminal behavior (Strickland et al., 2009).
High School Drop Out Rates
According to research, youths in ghettos; racially segregated communities with high poverty levels tend to fare less well in cognitive as well as academic achievement which promotes or rather encourages high school dropout rates. Concerning this, research dropout rates are nearly 50% for America's historically disadvantaged minority groups among them African Americans and Latino communities especially those living in the ghettos marked by high violence and poverty levels (Strickland et al., 2009). Generally, as compared to children in ghettos, youths in affluent communities experience good academic outcomes, such as high reading as well as math achievement scores, high IQ levels, as well as greater possibility of school completion; hence, lower dropout rates (Gennetian, L. et al., 2012).
Generally, there are multiple ways in which ghettos promote school dropout among the youths. Concerning this, one of ways in which living in the ghetto promotes high dropout rates is as a result of high poverty levels in these areas. Concerning this, faced with high poverty levels most children are forced to leave school and instead look for employment opportunities to provide for their families (Stewart, 2007). Increased inequality as well as segregation is another factor that promotes high dropout rates in schools located in ghetto communities, as a result, lack of adequate funding, over population as well lack of adequate resources promotes dropout. Other common features of American ghetto areas that promote high dropout rates include, increased teen pregnancy cases, and delinquency among the youth; all which are common features of modern-day ghettos (Stewart, 2007).
Exposure of youths to violence in ghetto areas is also associated with low academic performance and achievement resulting in school dropouts. Concerning this, according to research studies, exposure to violence is associated with both decline in cognitive performance as well as attentional impairment. Constant poor performance, ultimately discourages youths from perusing education inclusive of higher education.
Psychological Implications
Research also indicates a positive correlation between residing in ghetto areas and psychological as well as health related problems among the children, teenagers, as well as young adults. Concerning this, youths growing up in ghettos; highly characterized by high poverty level and violence, according to research studies show a wide range of maladaptive outcomes which often include internalizing symptoms like depression, aggressive behavior, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms as well as social disengagement and isolation, as a result, these youths are likely to suffer from mental problems or rather disorders owing to their poor/traumatic backgrounds (Strickland et al., 2009).
Health Implications
With regard to health implications of ghettos on modern day youths, most characteristics of these neighborhoods such as presence of gangs and drug peddlers, as well as low parental supervision provide an opportunity for the youths to experiment with both alcohol and drugs resulting in health problems as a result of substance abuse. Moreover, research also indicates that youths living in ghetto areas are also likely to engage in risky behavior including sharing of injections used for drug abuse, sexual violence, and increased sexual activity among the youths; this in turn, leads to health complications arising from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Moreover, poor sanitary conditions and environment is also likely to cause numerous health diseases including waterborne diseases (Boardman, "Onge, 2005).
Conclusion
In conclusion, which refer to highly segregated areas where people live due to legal, economic, as well as legal pressure or hardships and marked by high poverty level, crime rates, and violence tend to have many negative effect on today’s youths. Some of these effects include promotion of delinquency and criminal behaviors due factors such as low parental supervision, peer pressure, and poverty. Other effects include high school dropout rates which is linked to early pregnancies, low academic performance due to violence as well as the need to secure employment among the youth to support their families due to high poverty levels. Conclusively, other effects of ghetto on the youth include psychological and health complications rising from increased violence and engagement in risky behaviors respectively.
References
Boardman, J. " Onge, J.M. (2005). Neighborhoods and Adolescent Development. The National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved from; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3187660/#R39
Gennetian, L. et al. (2012). The Long-Term Effects of Moving to Opportunity on Youth Outcomes. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research. Volume 14, No. 2. Retrieved from; https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol14num2/Cityscape_July2012_long_term_effects_youth.pdf
Hagedorn, J. (2007). Gangs in the Global City: Alternatives to Traditional Criminology. University of Illinois Press.
Stewart, E. (2007). The Effect of Neighborhood Context on the College Aspirations of African American Adolescents. Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 896 –919. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0e57/17c60b4d2d5da12370ee1c5c4403e6f4fba4.pdf
Strickland, M. et al. (2009). Community Violence and Youth: Affect, Behavior, Substance Use, and Academics. Clinical Child Family Psychology Review. Doi: [10.1007/s10567-009-0051-6]
Williams, T. (2017). Ghetto. Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved from; http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0081.xml
