Does dependency cause despondency? Welfare receipt and normative expectations among inner-city African-American youth

This study attempts to isolate the effects of receipt of welfare on adolescents' expectations net of other coexisting factors such as family and household characteristics, neighborhood situational effects, and individual demographics. In addition, apart from the direct effect of these exogenous variables on expectations, mediating effects of peer association, maternal orientations, and academic attainment are also included in the analysis. The results indicate that time on welfare not only contributes directly to the non-normative expectations of adolescents but also indirectly by undermining mothers' expectations for the future well-being of their children. The results also indicate that family characteristics and neighborhood disadvantage have important implications for the prosocial development of youth.