A Social Capital Framework for Understanding the Socialization of Racial Minority Children and Youths

Abstract

In this article, Ricardo Stanton-Salzar offers a network-analytic framework for understanding the socialization and schooling experiences of working-class racial minority youth. Unlike many previous writers who have examined the role of "significant others," he examines the role that relationships between youth and institutional agents, such as teachers and counselors, play in the greater multicultural context in which working-class minority youth must negotiate. Stanton-Salazar provides the conceptual foundations of a framework built around the concepts of social capital and institutional support. He concentrates on illuminating those institutional and ideological forces that he believes make access to social capital and institutional support within schools and other institutional settings so problematic for working-class minority children and adolescents. Stanton-Salazar also provides some clues as to how some working-class minority youth are able to manage their difficult participation in multiple worlds, how they develop cultural strategies for overcoming various obstacles, and how they manage to develop sustaining and supportive relationships with institutional agents.

‘There was never really any question of anything else': young people's agency, institutional habitus and the transition to higher education

“…Bourdieu's concept of institutional habitus can thus help to explain how different sets of influences come together to make certain choices for students unthinkable, possible or probable (Bourdieu 1984). Young people who are members of the dominant groups enjoy advantages in decision-making through their prior knowledge of, and easy access to, various forms of capital (economic, social and cultural) (Ghosh, Michelson and Anyon 2007;Stanton-Salazar 1997). The emphasis on academic pathways in schools serving middle-class areas will reinforce existing student and parental ambitions and views.…”

Training Future Scientists: Predicting First-year Minority Student Participation in Health Science Research

“…Although some studies stress the influence of parental encouragement in students' development of social capital (Perna 2004;Perna and Titus 2004), the current study focuses on the influence of institutional agents (Stanton-Salazar 1997;Stanton-Salazar and Dornbusch 1995) and peer groups (Lin 1999) in generating social networks that provide access to academic information and opportunities within institutions of higher education. Social capital, including mentoring and peer relationships, may play a particularly important role in helping URMs navigate the complexities of the campus.…”

School relationships foster success for African American students: ACT policy report

“…Results of this study suggest that school relationships can play an important role in education by revealing how the relationships African American students have with their school and with their teachers, counselors, principals, and other school staff can increase their educational expectations and postsecondary participation. The importance of these relationships, and the strong reliance by African American students on the school and its resources for educational and career planning support, is reflected in other studies as well (Epps, 1995;Gándara & Bial, 2001;Noeth & Wimberly, 2002;Stanton-Salazar, 1997). Study findings suggest three major recommendations for improving school relationships for African Americans and increasing their educational expectations and postsecondary enrollment.…”

“…Because teachers provide information and opportunities that enhance students' educational experiences, direct studentteacher interaction may compensate for a school's potentially lower academic emphasis and may propel students to postsecondary education. Particularly among African American students in low-income and urban communities, school personnel may be the primary source of postsecondary and career planning information (Noeth & Wimberly, 2002;Stanton-Salazar, 1997). These students' families and communities may lack the information and resources to help them succeed in school and make the transition to postsecondary education.…”