New York University Sociologist Patrick Sharkey will examine how neighborhood violence affects adolescents’ cognitive functioning and school performance as a William T. Grant Scholar.
New York University Sociologist Patrick Sharkey will examine how neighborhood violence affects adolescents’ cognitive functioning and school performance as a William T. Grant Scholar. Sharkey will receive $350,000 over five years from the William T. Grant Foundation to conduct his research.
“Sharkey is now part of a new generation of researchers whose work is advancing our understanding of youth development,” the foundation said in announcing this year’s four William T. Grant Scholars.
“The goal of this program is to identify promising early-career scholars and give them financing, mentorship, and interdisciplinary experiences to make them even better,” said Robert C. Granger, president of the William T. Grant Foundation.
In an earlier study co-authored with Harvard University Professor Robert Sampson and University of Chicago Professor Stephen Raudenbush, Sharkey found that childhood exposure to severely disadvantaged communities is linked to decreased verbal ability later in childhood, a lasting negative effect that continues even after moving out of the neighborhood.
Sharkey’s other previous scholarship has examined the impact of neighborhoods on economic mobility and the effects of Hurricane Katrina across racial groups in New Orleans. To read more about his research, click here.