Family influences on the social participation of youth: the effects of parental social involvement and farming.

摘要

Parents shape children's social choices through their social and economic actions. Parental social participation connects children to a civic culture and encourages involvement in civic groups. Parents' ties to farming in farm-dependent communitiesfurther enhance children's civic orientations by providing added opportunities and incentives for social participation. Data from the Youth and Families Project in Iowa, USA, in 1991, confirm these hypotheses, showing that the children of farmers and ofrural leaders are more likely to participate in civic groups. These results establish parental social involvement as a source of social capital and demonstrate the importance of farm influences for understanding the social involvement of youth in rural society.