Social Capital and Delinquency among Turkish Juveniles

• Main Author: Cubukcu, Suat
• Other Authors: Seward, Rudy R.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2011
• Subjects: Social capital; Turkish juveniles; delinquency
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84196/

This study examined the relationship between aspects of social capital and self-reported delinquency among Turkish juveniles by using a secondary dataset, which is a part of the European Youth Survey. The survey was conducted among tenth graders in 2007 in Bağcılar, Istanbul. The dependent variable of this study, delinquency, was divided into two groups, minor and major, according to the stipulations of the Turkish Penal Code. Social capital was measured by assessing adolescents’ reports of their direct interactions with their parents, peers and community. In order to predict the likelihood of major and minor delinquency independently, two different subsets (N: 1879 and 1837, respectively) of the data set were used. The findings of the multivariate analyses suggest that a low level of social capital contributed significantly to Turkish juveniles’ engagement in major and minor delinquent activities. Among the social capital items, adolescents’ affiliation with delinquent peers had the strongest correlation with both dependent variables.