NCJ Number
195640
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2002 Pages: 188-211
Date Published
2002
Length
24 pages
Annotation
In this article, the authors take the notion of social capital and reinterpret it from an evolutionary psychological perspective, which they then apply to theories of crime.
Abstract
The authors propose that the term social capital, as it is currently used in the literature, is incomplete. Thus, in this article they offer a reinterpretation of the term from an evolutionary psychology perspective. They suggest that social capital, from this perspective, is “any social relationship that, directly or indirectly, helps an individual maximize reproductive success through promoting survival, the acquisition of resources, mating, or the promotion of offspring to sexual maturity.” To show how this reinterpretation of social capital is more appropriate and complete, the authors apply their meaning of the term to several theoretical domains in the field of criminology in order to show how this evolutionary psychological perspective can serve to refine or bridge current explanations of the causes of crime. They apply their notion of social capital to social control theory, rational choice theory, strain theory, and theories on the subculture of deviance. The authors postulate that the ultimate causes of crime, from their evolutionary psychological perspective, are human nature and human behavior. References