It is increasingly recognized that families and communities are important in helping youths develop the knowledge and skills they need to obtain technologically sophisticated jobs, which are an emerging part of the global economy. In this paper we adopt social capital as a framework for examining the influence of family and community on promoting educational achievement among public school students. We explore more fully the role of community social capital in influencing educational performance beyond that attributed to family social capital. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS), we find that both process and structural attributes of family social capital are key factors affecting high school students' educational achievement. Process and structural attributes of community social capital also help youths to excel, though they contribute less strongly to achievement. These findings suggest that policies designed to promote educational achievement must extend beyond the school and must seek to strengthen social capital in the family and the community.

Using an ecological risk-factor approach, this study sought to identify risk factors related to suicidal behavior in a sample of 14,922 adolescents (11,027 European American adolescents and 3,895 African American adolescents) drawn from Michigan. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine significant predictors and to calculate a cumulative risk analysis. For both African American and European American males, risk factors related to frequent suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior were found at three levels of the social ecology: individual, family, and extrafamilial. Risk factors were also detected at all three levels of the ecology for both African American and European American females in terms of suicide attempts but not in terms of frequent suicidal thoughts. More similarities were found between the two ethnic groups and between males and females in terms of risk factors for suicidal ideation and attempted suicide. Results lend support to the use of an ecological risk-factor model for examining suicidal thoughts and attempts.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract