Erin York Cornwell

• PhD, University of Chicago
• Professor (Assistant) at Cornell University

Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of social life, especially among older adults who may face cognitive impairments. Concerning this combination of circumstances, the study evaluates the degree to which data collection on social connectedness among older adults might be affected by the social complexities of the COVID-19 pan...

Sociological research has documented myriad associations between individuals’ overall social connectedness and health but rarely considers the shorter-term dynamics of social life that may underlie these associations. The authors examine how being with others (“social accompaniment”) is associated with momentary experiences of symptoms, drawing sma...

Increasing research highlights heterogeneity in patterns of social network change, with growing evidence that these patterns are shaped in part by social structure. The role of social and structural neighborhood conditions in the addition and loss of kin and non-kin network members, however, has not been fully considered. In this paper, we argue th...

Socioeconomic disadvantage and disorder in the residential neighborhood have been linked to multiple health risks, but less is known about the relevance of other spaces of daily life. This article considers whether disadvantage and disorder in the immediate context—within or outside of the residential neighborhood—is associated with physiological s...

Recent theoretical and methodological advances in urban sociology, including spatially located data, provide new opportunities to consider the joint influence of mobility and place in urban social life. This review defines the concept of activity space, describes its origins in urban sociology, and examines the extent to which activity space approa...

Background Research indicates that social isolation and loneliness increase the risk of mental disorders, but less is known about the distinct contributions of different aspects of isolation. We aimed to distinguish the pathways through which social disconnectedness (eg, small social network, infrequent social interaction) and perceptions of social...

Civil legal problems are common in everyday life, but the costs of obtaining legal representation create barriers to legal action and contribute to disparities in access to justice. Some individuals, however, may have informal access to legal assistance through personal network ties with lawyers, enhancing their responses to justiciable problems. I...

Neighborhood problems such as abandoned buildings, broken windows, and crime are often seen as urban problems. However, the recent housing crisis, shifting demographics, and deepening inequality may have increased neighborhood problems outside of cities. This article describes trends in neighborhood quality across the rural-urban continuum and cons...

Objectives: Prior research emphasizes the importance of the residential neighborhood context during later life but little attention has been afforded to other areas that older adults encounter as they move beyond their residential environments for daily activities and social interactions. This study examines the predominance of the residential con...

Objectives: To examine rates at which people suffering medical emergencies on public streets receive help from bystanders, that is, laypersons who first arrive on the scene, and how this varies across patient race and incident locations. Methods: We analyzed data on 22 487 patients from the 2011 National Emergency Medical Services Information Sy...

Family relationships, social interactions, and exchanges of support often revolve around the household context, but scholars rarely consider the social relevance of this physical space. In this article the author considers social causes and consequences of household disorder in the dwellings of older adults. Drawing from research on neighborhood di...

Theories of urbanism suggest that the urban context erodes individuals’ strong social ties with friends and family. Recent research has narrowed focus to the neighborhood context, emphasizing how localized structural disadvantage affects community-level cohesion and social capital. In this paper, we argue that neighborhood context also shapes socia...

Previous research shows that clients of public defenders are not necessarily more likely to be convicted than those who hire private attorneys, but this work largely reflects cases adjudicated through plea bargains. Little attention has been devoted to how the context of a trial shapes outcomes across defendants with private and public defense coun...

For older adults aging in the community, living conditions can promote health, enhance coping, and reduce disablement—but they can also create stress and increase risks of illness, accidents, and decline. Although socioeconomic disparities in housing likely contribute to inequalities in interior conditions, I argue that living conditions are also s...

Objectives: This paper introduces new measures of neighborhood context that are included in the second wave of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). We describe the use of field interviewer ratings of respondents' neighborhood conditions, as well as the adaptation of existing measures for the assessment of neighborhood socia...

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among older adults, but rates of blood pressure control are low. In this article, we explore the role of social network ties and network-based resources (e.g., information and support) in hypertension diagnosis and management. We use data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Pro...

Fully participatory jury deliberations figure prominently in the idealized view of the American jury system, where balanced participation among diverse jurors leads to more accurate fact-finding and instills public confidence in the legal system. However, research more than 50 years ago indicated that jury-room interactions are shaped by social sta...

Increasing urbanization coupled with population aging suggests that the neighborhood context in which people grow old may shape their health, longevity, and well-being. In this chapter, we examine the neighborhood-health relationship within the context of age and aging. We summarize the literature on neighborhoods and health, lay out a set of theor...

In 1954 social scientists and legal scholars from the University of Chicago Law School's Jury Project recorded six jury deliberations in Wichita, Kansas. Over a year later, news of the recordings erupted into a national scandal, and the researchers were subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security. This article examines...

Fully participatory jury deliberations figure prominently in the idealized view of the American jury system, where balanced participation among diverse jurors leads to more accurate fact-finding and instills greater public confidence in the legal system. However, research more than 50 years ago indicated that jury-room interactions are shaped by so...

The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) data contain multiple indicators of social connectedness, social participation, social support, and loneliness among older adults. We suggest that these indicators can be combined to measure two aspects of social isolation: social disconnectedness (i.e., physical separation from others) an...

Previous research has identified a wide range of indicators of social isolation that pose health risks, including living alone, having a small social network, infrequent participation in social activities, and feelings of loneliness. However multiple forms of isolation are rarely studied together making it difficult to determine which aspects of is...

Social capital theory suggests that individuals can access resources through their relationships with others. While research in this area typically focuses on the potential benefits of having high-status network alters, the authors emphasize that relationships with experts, in particular, provide access to specialized knowledge. Expertise may be ac...

The American jury is heralded as an institution that is simultaneously representative and egalitarian. However, jury studies conducted 50 years ago found that white, upper-class men dominate jury deliberations, presumably due to their higher status outside of the jury room. Logistic regression analysis of dyadic influence inside the jury room updat...