NCJ Number
213836
Journal
Social Forces Volume: 84 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 1435-1453
Date Published
March 2006
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between adolescent violence and social capital in an adolescent’s family, school, and neighborhood.
Abstract
The results suggest that cooperative and supportive ties within the family, school, and neighborhood can work to decrease violent outcomes for adolescents in at-risk situations. Specific findings revealed that strong family social capital was more important than living with a biological father in terms of adolescent violence reduction and that the effects of neighborhood factors such as low household incomes and minority status, did not significantly impact adolescents. Somewhat surprisingly, participation in school-sponsored activities was actually related to increases in adolescent violence. Cross-sectional data from a national sample of 4,834 secondary school students were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which included the Violent Behavior Summation Index. Data were examined with multivariate linear regression models. Study limitations included its use of cross-sectional data which precludes causal inferences. Future research should test social capital models against other theoretical and empirical perspectives on adolescent violence. Tables, references