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- Title
Deindustrialization, Female-Headed Families, and Black and White Juvenile Homicide Rates, 1970-1990.
- Authors
Ousey, Graham C.
- Abstract
The article connects William Julius Wilson's conceptualization of the economic and social consequences of economic restructuring with a macrolevel social control framework to help explain the increase in juvenile homicide rates observed between 1970 and 1990. Recent research in urban sociology posits that the proliferation of female-headed families in American cities is a result of declining economic prospects due to profound changes in the structure of the urban economy. Meanwhile, macro-level theory and research in criminology suggest that an association exists between family structure and rates of lethal violence among juveniles. Among these problems are increasing rates of female-headed families and juvenile homicide. One prominent theoretical account for the rise of female-headed families posits that a general increase in public assistance benefits created an enticement for out-of-wedlock childbearing and a disincentive for marriage. Alternatively, Wilson suggests that declining economic prospects caused by the transformation from a goods-based to a service-based economy rather than liberal welfare policies are responsible for the proliferation of female-headed families. In particular, Wilson posits that declining economic prospects have depressed local marriage markets and increased the reluctance of Black males to take on family responsibilities, which has resulted in increased rates of children born out of wedlock.
- Subjects
UNITED States; DEINDUSTRIALIZATION; INDUSTRIAL capacity; JUVENILE homicide; SOCIAL conflict; INDUSTRIALIZATION
- Publication
Sociological Inquiry, 2000, Vol 70, Issue 4, p391
- ISSN
0038-0245
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1475-682X.2000.tb00917.x