Individual and community processes of social closure: A study of adolescent academic achievement and alcohol use

While the concept of social capital has rekindled interest in fundamental issues of social inquiry, concerns have been raised regarding its definition and application in increasingly diverse topics. We address these concerns by revisiting Coleman's and Bourdieu's original ideas of the role of family and school in adolescent outcomes. Multi-level modelling reveals that controlling for individual background, parental relations and adolescent activities, school levels of intergenerational closure and cultural activities are predictive of higher maths grades, while school levels of intergenerational closure, supervised activities and sports participation are predictive of less alcohol use. The results support the general thrust of social capital theory and suggest further theoretical elaborations.