Community Influence on Adolescent Development

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors have selected three components of the community to demonstrate various proximal and distal influences affecting adolescents: (1) peers, (2) neighborhoods, and (3) media. We present a selective review of the literature related to these topics in order to highlight the critical role that community contexts play in adolescent development. The authors begin by providing a brief overview of Bronfenbrenner's person-process-context model as a foundation for discussing community influence. Within our three selected community components, the authors examine the role of the context in the lives of adolescents and its potential to serve as both a risk and protective factor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)