Stefanie DeLuca of Sociology Named a William T. Grant
Scholar
Stefanie DeLuca, an assistant professor in the
Department of
Sociology at Johns Hopkins, was
recently named a William T. Grant Scholar, a major
fellowship given each year to four to six early-
career scholars conducting high-quality research in the
social and behavioral sciences.
DeLuca plans to use her $350,000 prize to spend five
years examining the role of moving in the
lives of American youth. The title of the project is
"Moving Matters: Residential Mobility,
Neighborhoods and Family in the Lives of Poor Adolescents."
DeLuca said she is interested in residential mobility
because moving shapes, and is shaped by,
the pivotal contexts of family, school and neighborhood.
Past research shows a strong association
between moving--especially repeat moving--and negative
outcomes, such as dropping out of school,
depression and antisocial behavior. However, other research
has shown that moving from poor
neighborhoods can be beneficial, even if it severs some
social ties. DeLuca seeks to understand the
conditions under which moving is detrimental or beneficial
for youth development. She is also
interested in examining mobility as a multifaceted concept
that involves the possibility of change in
one or more contexts. Current research, DeLuca said,
usually treats moving, family change and school
change as separate events when they are often linked.
DeLuca's new project builds on her previous research
on the Gautreaux and Moving to
Opportunity housing voucher programs, where she studied
families escaping from poor neighborhoods.
"Instead of focusing only on 'neighborhood effects,' I will
also examine the process of moving itself,"
DeLuca said. "The field needs better research on the
effects of social environments, but also on how
families select into and out of those environments." To
that end, she will examine reasons for moving,
distances, family structure and school changes.
Another distinctive feature of DeLuca's research is
that she is looking at the effects of moving
for very poor families, whose reasons for moving are more
likely to be involuntary, in particular. In her
fieldwork, DeLuca will be interviewing low-income mothers
in Mobile, Ala., about why they move and
how they use moving as a strategy for family management and
youth well-being. The data she collects
will supplement survey data from the National Longitudinal
Survey of Youth 1997, the Mobile Alabama
Youth Survey and the Moving to Opportunity program interim
follow-up data. She will be looking at
how moving affects dropping out of high school, substance
abuse and mental health. In addition to the
W. T. Grant award, DeLuca has recently received funding for
related projects from the Spencer
Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and National Academy
of Education.
DeLuca, a graduate of the Human Development and Social
Policy program at Northwestern
University, is one of four young scholars to be named
William T. Grant Scholars this year. The process
is extremely competitive. Candidates from around the
country are nominated by a supporting
institution and must have five-year research and mentoring
plans that demonstrate creativity,
intellectual rigor and a commitment to continued
professional development. A selection committee
composed of prominent senior scholars screens all
applications, and a small group of finalists is invited
to New York for an interview.
Founded in 1936, the William T. Grant Foundation aims
to further the understanding of human
behavior through research. Its mission focuses on improving
the lives of youth ages 8 to 25 in the
United States.
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