Family Social Capital and Delinquent Behavior in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Research suggests that juvenile delinquency has a number of deleterious effects on adolescents’ lives. A promising way to discourage delinquent behavior is by increasing social capital, which involves social connections adolescents have to other actors and pro-social norms that flow through these networks. The primary source of social capital is one’s family members, but no studies to date have focused directly on the effects of family social capital on delinquent behavior in the United Kingdom (U.K.). We use data from the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, 2015–2016; n = 11,352) to assess different sources of family social capital among youth. The results of negative binomial regression models indicate that certain types of family social capital, including parental supervision, not fighting with parents, and talking to parents when youth are worried, are associated with less delinquent behavior, even after adjusting for covariates such as family structure, household income, and peer behaviors. The results add to the empirical foundation that supports family social capital’s attenuating effects on youth misbehaviors and increases confidence in the utility of social capital to serve as a generally applicable theory of youth development and behaviors.