Framing Neighborhood Safety and Academic Success

Perspectives from High-Achieving Black Boys in Chicago

Abstract

Research has explored the impact of neighborhood conditions on academic performance. To address an understudied population—high-achieving, Black male youth from violent communities—this study utilizes Neighborhood Narrative Frames to qualitatively explore Black male youths’ lived experiences in their communities and perceptions in relation to school. This phenomenological study explored 18 participants during the 2009–2010 academic year of a charter high school in Chicago, Illinois. Findings illustrate that participants frame their neighborhoods in terms of safe and unsafe people and places, and frame school as a present and future escape from community violence.