The findings suggest that both risk and risk-avoidance strategies are strikingly different for young women and young men and are shaped by the gendered organizational features of neighborhood life. This research attempts to build from the insights of previous research by examining the gendered nature of perceived risk and risk-management strategies among urban African-American adolescents. It is noted that previous research consistently reveals that fear of crime and perceived risk are demographically and ecologically patterned, with women and individuals in disadvantaged community settings reporting increased fear and perceptions of risk. For women, these fears and perceptions are said to be tied to concerns about sexual violence specifically, whereas for individuals in distressed neighborhoods, crime rates, "incivilities" and poor police-community relations are often identified as important correlates. It is noted that future research would benefit by continuing to investigate how social vulnerabilities function in tandem to structure risks across ecological settings. Data for this work came from a broader study of gender and violence among urban adolescents and included survey information and in-depth interviews with 72 African-American youth in St. Louis, MO, consisting of 39 men and 33 women. Table, references, and appendix