Event

The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies (SALISES) presents a Research Presentation by Ms. Alvinelle Matthew, PhD Candidate on the topic, Social capital and youth behaviour: The influence of family, school and community social capital on Adolescence Problem Behaviour in Trinidad.

This workshop takes place at 11am.

For a printable version of this information, please click here. 

ABSTRACT

Social capital and youth behaviour: The influence of family, school and community social capital on Adolescence Problem Behaviour in Trinidad

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative influence of social capital within the family, school and community on youth participation and the frequency of their involvement in delinquency and violent acts. Data came from an in-school survey conducted in the Borough of Arima (N=488) that asks youth about their involvement in delinquency and violent behaviour within the past 12 months. Binominal regression models show that family involvement and neighbourhood cohesion were significantly associated with delinquency, net of controls. Results for the violence model were more mixed.  Family attachment and family involvement exerted a significant negative effect on violence, while neighbourhood cohesion was significantly associated with the counts of violence but did not reduce youths overall frequency of involvement. Contrary to the study’s expectation no significant association was observed with school social capital on either delinquency or violence. Above and beyond the impact of social capital factors, youths who associate with deviant peers report significantly more offences, when adjusting for other factors in the model. Implications discussed highlight how aspects of varying social contexts, particularly parenting behaviours, peers relations and community based associations can reduce non-serious and serious forms of crime in Trinidad.

Key words: families, community, social capital, delinquency, violence.