Social Capital and Adolescent Violent Behavior: Correlates of Fighting and Weapon Use among Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between social capital and adolescent violent behaviors for a national sample of secondary school students (N = 4,834). Cross-sectional data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to evaluate multivariate models examining the family school and neighborhood correlates of violent behaviors. Results demonstrate the importance of social capital factors across domains as significant resources moderating violence outcomes, especially parent-child relationships and school affiliation. Although we hypothesized that greater sports and club participation would decrease tendencies toward violence, results indicate otherwise.