In this study, conceptual models of young adult citizenship participation eight years post high school using Putnam's (1993) theory of social capital are tested. This study uses a longitudinal database. Specifically, the models posit that accumulation of more social capital resources during adolescence will be associated with more positive future life expectations related to educational, occupational, and family life outcomes. Subsequently, these more positive future life expectations and social capital resources will be associated with a higher degree of citizenship participation (as measured by voting behavior, community integration and volunteerism) as young adults. Measures from the 1990, 1992 and 2000 waves of the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) dataset were used. The models were examined using structural equation modeling procedures. Findings indicate that school and community social capital had mixed results regarding their effects on the final outcome variables. Teacher interactions were not found to have a statistically significant direct effect on any of the three citizenship participation outcome variables. But this result should be viewed with caution due to possible measurement problems with the construct of teacher interactions. Peer interactions did have a statistically significant, direct, effect on community integration and volunteerism, but it did not have a direct effect on voting behavior. Participation in extracurricular school activities did have a small, direct, effect on all three outcome variables. Participation in community sports activities had a positive direct effect on community integration, a small negative effect on voting behavior, and no statistically significant effect on volunteerism. Finally, participation in other types of community activities had the largest direct effects on all three citizenship participation outcome variables. The adolescent social capital variables of teacher interactions, peer interactions, and participation in other types of community activities for tenth graders did have positive, direct effects on future life expectations for twelfth graders. Extracurricular activities participation and community sports participation were not found to have an effect on future life expectations. Future life expectations were found to have a very small, but statistically significant, positive, direct effect on all three citizenship participation variables. These findings indicate that some adolescent social capital resources can have positive direct effects on the long term, young adult, educational outcome of citizenship participation. But it varies by type of social capital resource and by the particular aspect of citizenship behavior being measured. / Ph. D.

The aim of this study was to find out: (a) the role played by various agencies in the discharge procedure and (b) former psychiatric patients" own perspective on their social network, quality of life and future life expectations. The theoretical framework is based on Mead's symbolic interactionism, Asplund's interpretation of Tönnies' concepts Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft and Buber's dialogical philosophy. Descriptive, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered on four occasions from May 1984 to December 1986. On three occasions professionals provided information by means of structured questionnaires. Information on the last occasion was provided by former patients through interviews by means of a semistructured questionnaire. Seventy-three patients were discharged during the research period. I was able to follow 50 through all four stages. Fifty-three patients were interviewed. Other agencies were hardly involved at all in the discharge procedure except for the provision of home support. The duration of and stigma attached to mental illness, being without work and gender seemed to have the most influence on the primary network. The same issues (with the exception of gender), together with place of residence, financial difficulties and inability to exert influence over one's own situation influenced the former patients' quality of life and their expectations of the future. Special attention has been given to their occupational situation and to their relations to the professional network. Work opportunities were highly valued but most of the former patients were excluded from the labour market. The LFP groups satisfaction with the home care workers and dissatisfaction with the psychiatric professionals seemed to be due to the former's ability to undertake a ’caring’ relationship. / <p>S. 1-67: sammanfattning, s. 71-147, [3] s.: 5 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu