Neighborhood unity offers behavioral protection for poor kids

In deprived areas, youngsters’ misconduct declines when community members know one another well.

From a child’s perspective, not all low-income neighborhoods are alike. Though opportunities for youthful fighting and law breaking abound in impoverished areas, good neighbors can nudge youngsters toward the straight and narrow, according to a five-year study led by psychologist Candice Odgers of the University of California, Irvine.