In the eye of the beholder: mothers' perceptions of poor neighborhoods as places to raise children

Abstract

This study explores how mothers facing similar neighborhood conditions evaluate their neighborhoods as places to raise children. The authors relied upon a triangulation of methods, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, with a sample of 91 low-income mothers. Content analysis of qualitative interviews revealed that mothers often hold divergent views about the quality of the same or similar neighborhoods. Mothers' overall neighborhood perceptions were influenced by several specific indicators, including social interaction, collective efficacy, fear of crime, personal victimization, and neighborhood incivilities. Moreover, mothers' subjective neighborhood perceptions were related to their parenting strategies. This study thus underscores the importance of not solely relying on “objective” neighborhood criteria such as census data, but of also attending to residents' subjective perceptions of their own neighborhoods. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.