| William Mangino
Yale University
Openness as social capital: Network position and adolescent boys in their schools
FINAL REPORT:
In contrast to James S. Coleman's work on social closure as a form of social capital, I show that within adolescent peer networks, at-risk boys derive social capital from a form of social "openness." In the tradition of Burt, Granovetter, and Bott, openness is defined as an individual attribute where an adolescent serves as a "social bridge" between two or more distinct peer groups. I contend that adolescent boys who are traditionally thought of as "at-risk" benefit from openness because they are freed from downward-leveling peer pressure. Their position as social bridge allows them to select behavioral options that are atypical of their position in social structure. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I show that benefits can come directly; or, they can be indirect because openness increases the influence of an adolescent's "significant others." Direct improvements are illuminated in a statistical analysis of grade point average showing that low-SES black boys who are a social bridge have higher grades than their counterparts who are members of a single peer group. A second statistical analysis demonstrates that African-American boys of all SES levels are less delinquent when they are a social bridge. This decrease in delinquency occurs because openness empowers parents to have heightened influence over their child. The findings imply that education policy should heed its power over who comes into contact with whom. By grouping students in classrooms, buildings, and academic tracks, schools create social structure. Parents and schools should foster broad social interaction among students, thereby weakening peer pressure and enhancing parental influence. Openness among adolescent peer networks offers a new line of pragmatic possibilities and contributes to social capital research.
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