Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Alloush, Mo; Bloem, Jeffrey R.
• 署名单位: Hamilton College; United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102756
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: violence; psychological well-being; DEPRESSION; Mental health; poverty; Neighborhood effects; South Africa

摘要

We estimate the relationship between neighborhood violence and psychological well-being using nationally representative panel data from South Africa. We use data on household-level perceptions of neighborhood violence as well as reported crimes and local media reports to measure violence. First, we find the poor live in neighborhoods that they perceive to have higher levels of violence and have objectively more violence. Second, higher levels of both perceived and objective violence are strongly linked to elevated depressive symptoms and an increased likelihood of being at risk of depression. Finally, we show that living in urban neighborhoods with high levels of violence while poor is predictive of future poverty in our sample.