In this context, social capital involves the resources, either tangible or intangible, that the youths acquire through personal and business networks. Notably, such resources encompass information and ideas, financial capital, power and influence, and cooperation (Hopkins, 2015). According to the Age-Graded theory, social capital can even be emotional support and goodwill. However, the process of developing social capital requires the following steps to help the youths refrain from delinquency.
Adolescents can develop social capital through proactive networking to help them land in jobs and eventually luck. Actually, a strong network of people will give youths, especially adolescents, insights into the job environment and personal relationships concerning the hiring process. This implies that I would help them network proactively as an advantage to support them with a powerful group of people that are willing and able to speak for them on a daily basis. Additionally, I would encourage them to be strategic to help them create solid relationships that support their career aspirations (Tasgin, 2012). Notably, networking strategically will help adolescents to eliminate career pitfalls that may drive them into deviant behaviors and eventually delinquency. The two networking steps will prevent youths from engaging in anti-social behaviors due to unnecessary alienation from society.
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The last step in developing social capital among adolescents involves encouraging them to mobilize and leverage relationships to help in networking at high career-level elite professionals. This will give clients a competitive advantage to focus on what matters and adopt real and mutually beneficial relationships (Tasgin, 2012). For example, by identifying the right people, they can gain the power and influence to build and nurture relationships of trust that help them refrain from criminal behaviors. Therefore, they will positively impact their informal social controls.
Finally, families, particularly parents should take the leading roles in creating networks that increase connectivity and reduce deviant behaviors among their children. Again, society, peers, and social institutions like schools should be actively involved in reducing street crime and improving quality of life (Hopkins, 2015). Therefore, involving parents, close relatives, government agencies, and social institutions to promote civic engagement will increase self-esteem, participating in pro-social behaviors, and creating awareness regarding juveniles’ own capacities; hence, building social capital in society.
References
Hopkins, J. T. (2015). An Examination of Social Capital as a Delinquency Protective Factor for Youth Living In Impoverished Neighborhoods. A Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Social Work in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama. Retrieved May 21, 2019, from http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0015/0000001/0001897/u0015_0000001_0001897.pdf
Tasgin, S. (2012). Assessing an Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control: A Qualitative Study Exploring Pathways to Youth Incarceration in Turkey. A Dissertation Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice . Retrieved May 21, 2019, from https://d.lib.msu.edu/etd/125/datastream/OBJ/download/Assessing_an_age-graded_theory_of_informal_social_control___a_qualitative_study_exploring_pathways_to_youth_incarceration_in_Turkey.pdf
