Family social capital and delinquent involvement

Much research implicates parenting in the etiology of delinquency. We draw on Coleman's [Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.] social capital perspective to test hypotheses that relate family "investment" in youth to the production of personal and social capital that, in turn, inhibits misbehavior. Using the well-known National Youth Survey (NYS), we find that family social capital produces the types of social and personal capital envisioned by Coleman, reduces delinquency across time, moderates the effects of misbehavior, and is associated with general positive effects across the life course. The implications associated with the social capital perspective are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.