Carole A Hanks1. 1. School of Nursing, University of Rochester, Waco, TX, USA. carole_hanks@baylor.edu <carole_hanks@baylor.edu>
Abstract
PROBLEM: This study aims to describe and analyze neighborhood effects on children's mental health, focusing on the emergence and effects of Social Capital or informal social control. METHOD: Focus groups of Hispanic and African American families raising children in a low-income, minority neighborhood. FINDINGS: Parents' alienation from and distrust of public sources of formal social control, such as policemen, prevented the emergence of positive informal social control. CONCLUSION: Psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners must utilize public health and individual therapeutic approaches to prevent and treat children's mental health problems in disorganized, violent neighborhoods.
PROBLEM: This study aims to describe and analyze neighborhood effects on children's mental health, focusing on the emergence and effects of Social Capital or informal social control. METHOD: Focus groups of Hispanic and African American families raising children in a low-income, minority neighborhood. FINDINGS: Parents' alienation from and distrust of public sources of formal social control, such as policemen, prevented the emergence of positive informal social control. CONCLUSION: Psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners must utilize public health and individual therapeutic approaches to prevent and treat children's mental health problems in disorganized, violent neighborhoods.