ABSTRACT
Recent research establishes the importance of social capital on criminal outcomes, but information on whether social capital is equitably distributed among gender groups for crime prevention is sparse. This study explores whether gender inequalities exist in how youth accumulate social capital and in turn, whether these social capital resources are related to youth involvement in violence when gender and other controls are considered. The data used came from an in-school survey conducted in the Borough of Arima, Trinidad (N = 488) that investigated youth involvement in violent behaviour over a 12-month period. Of the social capital indicators examined, the most significant differences by gender groups were those cognitive social capital indicators, such as school affective ties, neighbourhood closeness, and neighbourhood trust. With the exception of parental knowledge of friends, none of the structural social capital indicators reported any significant differences by gender. In the regression models, two dimensions of social capital, neighbourhood cohesion and parental involvement, exhibited significant influence with youth violence, net of associating with violent peers. These results highlight the importance of exploring gender-specific policy interventions in utilizing social capital to reduce youth violence. Future research can continue to examine relationships between gender groups and social capital resources on a wider range of offending behaviours.
