Chapter 5: Capital at Home And at School as Determinants of Child Social Adjustment¹

This chapter has several interrelated purposes. First, I will argue that child social adjustment is important both for its own sake and for its implications across the life course, particularly in terms of school success. Second, I will argue that the capital to which the child has access, both at home and at school, will be a major determinant of his/her social adjustment. This approach explicitly acknowledges that both the family and the school are influential contexts in shaping social behavior. Following Bronfenbrenner and Morris (1998), I believe that a child’s experience is shaped by multiple contexts throughout the course of development. Of course, the family is the first context the child experiences, but within a few years, the school becomes a second context that also will be important. I will review several perspectives that help to illuminate how various forms of capital located at home and at school can be so influential. In doing so, I will distinguish between perspectives focusing on social capital from those focusing on social class; I will also explore their intersection.