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Paper Title: “Reconceptualising HRD”- The Importance of HRD in building Social Capital for
Crime Prevention policies.
Author: Alvinelle Matthew
Affiliation: The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus
Email address: [email protected]
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Purpose: To explore whether HRD can create sources of community social capital in the
community context, this in turn can be utilised to deter youths from criminal choices.
Methodology: A case study investigation of the Citizen Security Program (CSP) which operates
in two communities in the borough of Arima, Trinidad and Tobago was conducted. Five in-depth
interviews and three focus group meetings were held with program administrators, youth leaders
and youth participants in these programs in these two communities.
Findings: Evidence supports HRD acts as a generator of community social capital resources.
Learning delivered through the HRD espoused model facilitated social interactions and
exchanges that help create and maintain strong and weak social ties (structural social capital).
The quantity and quality of social capital produced however, depends on the composition of
these networks, the interactions, frequency and length of time for which these relationships are
maintained (cognitive social capital). Although not initially hypothesised, qualitative data also
revealed that HRD strategies were able to generate sources of peer social capital.
Research limitations: First, the study is unable to claim that community youth groups located in
diverse urban and rural areas throughout Trinidad and Tobago function in similar patterns to
utilise HRD strategies to generate social capital. Findings discovered in this study may vary by
community specific characteristics such as cultural norms, ethnic background or even
community disorder features. Second, the research also had no control over the amount of youths
willing to participate in the focus group meetings. As youths’ participation depended on group
membership and participant’s time availability.
Practical implications. Policymakers can intentionally interweave aspects of HRD into
community based crime prevention programs to stimulate social capital resources. Policy
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initiatives should seek to strengthen opportunities for learning exchanges among diverse
relationships within and outside of the host community to assist in building resourceful networks.
Originality/value: First study, known to the author that provides empirical evidence that
substantiates the link between HRD, social capital and youth outcomes.
Keywords: HRD, social capital, youth outcomes
BACKGROUND TO RESEARCH
Introduction
Social capital is a set of resources embedded in the social structure of a network
(Coleman 1988, 1990; Putnam 1995; Lin 2001). Structural aspects of associational networks
appear to provide a range of material and non-material resources such as information, trust,
norms, obligations that individuals can use to promote self-growth. Not surprisingly, there have
been numerous studies exploring the instrumental advantage of social capital in areas related to
national development, organizational success, community development, poverty alleviation,
economic development, health issues, academic success, crime and HRD (Boix and Posner 1998;
Bebbington and Perreault 1999; Woolcock and Narayan 1999).
In the HRD literature, only a handful of studies conceptually explore the relationship
between social capital and HRD (Hezlett and Gibson 2007; Storberg-Walker 2002, 2005, 2009;
Gubbins and Garavan 2005; Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall 2003; Storberg- Walker and
Gubbins 2007; Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998; Nakamura and Yorks 2011; Brooks and Nafukho
2006). In these studies, scholars suggest HRD has the ability to create and sustain social
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interactions and networks, which in turn act as the medium to transmit information and social
resources. These resources are powerful indicators of social capital.
Notwithstanding these important connections, these studies do not establish any empirical
instruments that diagnose, measure, and improve the inquiry between social capital and HRD
(Kessels and Poell 2004; Nakamura and Yorks 2011). Also little is known outside the work
environment about the role HRD plays in generating social capital resources, particularly in
community organizations (Storberg-Walker 2009).
Defining Human Resource Development
Two definitions from the work of Harbison and Myers (1964) and McLean and McLean
(2001) guide this study’s concept of HRD. Harbison and Myers (1964) conceptualise HRD as:
“the process of increasing the knowledge, the skills and the capabilities of all the people in a society. In economic terms, it could be described as the accumulation of human capital and its effective investment in the development of an economy. In political terms, HRD prepares people for adult participation in the political process, particularly as citizens in a democracy. From the social and cultural points of view the development of human resources helps people lead fuller and richer lives, less bound to tradition” (p. 2-3).
HRD is seen as a ‘capability building measure’ that facilitates knowledge sharing, skill
development, enhancing learning for those within its programs’ reach. It operates in different
contexts outside of the traditional organization. McLean and McClean’s (2001) definition
suggests:
“process or activity that either initially or over the long term has the potential to develop adults work based knowledge, expertise, productivity and satisfaction whether for a person or group benefit/gain or for the benefit of the organization, community, nation or ultimately the whole of humanity.”
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This description of HRD also echoes an underlying theme that HRD should focus on
development activities to improve the quality of individuals’ lives, whether these individuals are
employees, students, youth club members, criminals or political leaders. As Marquardt and
Berger (2003) challenge, “the HRD profession must not only include economic development
and workplace learning, however it must be committed to the political, social, environmental,
cultural, and spiritual development of people around the world.”
Link between Social Capital and HRD
Connections established between social capital and HRD are antithetical. In the first
argument, research suggests that an HRD practitioner’s access to a wide range of social
resources, information and key persons in varied networks have the ability to improve the
outcomes of the HRD effort and ultimately organizational performance (Hezlett and Gibson
2007; O’Donnell et al 2007; Naphiet and Ghosal 1998; Gubbins and Garavan 2005; Storberg
2002, 2007). Social capital improves the outcomes of HRD. The reverse relationship is purported
in the second argument. Scholars found that HRD interventions foster multiple relationships
amongst stakeholders and therefore have the ability to create structural and relational
components of social capital that lead to a wide range of organizational, community and national
outcomes (Brooks and Nafukho 2006; Nakamura and Yorks 2011; Storberg-Walker 2007).
Relying on the social network perspective of social capital, namely the sociological
theories of Burt (1992) (structural holes), Granovetter (1973) (weak ties), Lin (2001) (resource
theory), theorists establish that HRD interventions have the ability to create and change the
social relationships which bridge different people and groups together (Storberg-Walker 2007).
These theories propose that as people engage in social connectivity with others, whether through
weak or informal ties, they are exposed to information, influence, opportunity, trust norms, and
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other valued assets which can be advantageous for themselves as well as the organization. One
exemplar study was provided by Brooks and Nafukho (2006). In it, they argue that HRD, defined
by the facilitating variables of HRD processes, including training and development, career
development and organisation development, together with emotional intelligence, improve the
organization’s ability to create and sustain social capital.
Although these HRD/social capital studies conceptually link social capital with HRD,
they do not discuss how HRD can create network associations in non-organizational based
settings. Neither do they provide empirical support to substantiate their HRD/social capital
claims. Storberg-Walker (2007) insists that “social capital has great potential as an analytical tool
and heuristic for HRD to contribute to economic outcomes and can inform new ways to improve
the research and practice in HRD field (335).”
Link between Social Capital and Crime
Several studies establish that lower levels of social capital are often associated with
higher crime rates (Cote and Healy 2001; Green et al. 2000; Halpern 2005; Putman 2000;
Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls 1997). Findings illustrate that youths who are more socially
disconnected, are unsupervised and have limited adult acquaintances often develop weaker social
bonds and are less likely to receive positive norms, values and sanctions that may act as a buffer
against antisocial behaviour. Weak social connections also reduce the possibility of detecting
offenders and preventing reoffending. Hence studies found that in communities with higher
detection rates, youths are less likely to engage in repeat or future offending because of the fear
of being reported, arrested or punished (Buonanno, Montolio and Vanin 2009; Cote and Healy
2001; Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls 1997).
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Social capital indicators such as social networks, community participation (De Coster,
Heimer and Wittrock 2006; Putnam 1995, 2000), social control (Salmi and Kivivuori 2006), trust
(Gatti, Tremblay and Larocque 2003; Ozbay 2008; Rosenfeld, Messner and Baumer 2001), and
religious involvement (Beyerlin and Hipp 2005; Weiss 2011) have been connected with different
types of criminal behaviour. When youths, especially those who are categorised as at-risk,
engage in relationships with others in ways that are considered beneficial, these relations may
deter negative behaviour. Social relations can influence the behavioural choices of youths.
Through these relations, youths learn pro-social norms and are often socially controlled in such a
way that it reduces opportunistic and free- rider problems which actively contribute to crime
(Lederman, Loayza and Menendez 2002). The aim of this article is to conceptualise initial
exploratory evidence on social capital and HRD within a localized crime prevention program.
Figure 1 displays these conceptual connections that will be examined through qualitative
methods.
Figure 1- Study’s conceptual model- Depicting the link between HRD and Social Capital
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Material Non Material
Social Resources
Comm
un
ity Social capital
TrustWeak ties-
Bridging and liking ties
(Intra and extra communityHRD
(learning based activities and HRD phases:
needs analysis, design,
implementation,
and evaluation)
Obligations and
Expectations
Strong ties
(Intra community, leaders and peers)
Timing/ Length of
relationship
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Three research questions guided this study: (1) How has HRD been applied in crime prevention
programs? (2) Does HRD create sources of community based social capital resources in these
programs? (3) What is the relationship between HRD, social capital and youth problem
behaviour in crime prevention programs? To examine these research questions, participants were
recruited from three youth groups (Pinto Youth Stars, Pinnacle Stars and Pinto Road Police
Youth clubs) across these two communities in Arima (Pinto Road and Samaroo Village/Mootoo
Lands) operating under the financial support of a government-funded program - Citizen Security
Program (CSP). The CSP is a six year pilot project funded by a US $24.5 million loan from the
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) operating across twenty-two communities to
address the most proximal and modifiable risk factors of youth misbehaviour (IADB 2008).
Data Collection Methods.
Structured and unstructured open ended interview questions generated from the literature and
prior studies were administered to seven CSP officials and youth club leaders. Interviews lasted
between 45- 60 minutes and were tape recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Interviews were
conducted during the period of February 2013 to December 2013.
Focus group methods were used as a form of triangulation to further explore how HRD creates
community social capital and whether social capital reduces problem behaviour. The appeal of
focus group methods is that it combines interviewing and observational techniques to yield richer
results (Teddlie and Tashakkori 2009). The focus group protocol was divided into three broad
areas of enquiry: general feelings about the program, impact of the program activities on social
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capital and influence on social capital on problem behaviour. Questions were developed to tap
into the areas of learning, individual development, community development, HRD process,
community cohesion, social resources, trust and social participation. Questions were constructed
in a way that asked youths to talk about changes “since being a member of the youth club”. For
instance, questions related to social participation asked “What were some of the existing
community programs before the implementation of the initiatives of this crime prevention
program? “How would you describe your level of participation in any of these programs? and
“Before this crime prevention initiative, what kind of community activities are you now involved
in that you were not previously involved in?” To understand youths’ perception of what
resources they received, the World Bank Social capital assessments tool, the Resource Exchange
Matrix was adopted. The matrix asked youths to identify what kind and from whom they receive
receives through participation in these groups.
Sample and Subjects
Purposive sampling was utilised to select participants who met the following criteria: (1) were
between the ages 12-17; (2) live in the Borough of Arima; (3) are members of the CSP program
initiatives. Participants for each focus group meeting were obtained through the Community
Action Officer of CSP for the Arima area, who became the key gatekeeper for the study. Each
participant was given a consent letter to gain their parents approval. In the letter, youths were
informed of the purpose of the study, confidentiality commitment and an undisclosed token to
encourage participation. The data collection phase lasted from April through to October 2013.
Group discussions and the conversations were recorded and data was coded from the extant
literature and categorized. Emerging themes were also identified.
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Documentary analysis was conducted on evaluation reports conducted by CSP Monitoring and
Evaluation Unit between the period 2008 and 2013. Official data published on the organization’s
official website was also examined, including statistics, community information, program
activities and information, evaluation reports and figures on the impact of
RESULTS
The Presence of HRD
Findings highlight, though CSP did not utilise the term ‘HRD’, these programs offered a range of
HRD interventions, and consisted of HRD structural elements, which provided youths with
opportunities for knowledge and skill development. HRD interventions that focused on
developing individual skills typically included formal and informal educational sessions, sports
development, drama and cultural training, health education, skills development sessions
(baking), and music education. This is evident within the following quotes obtained from two
program leaders from two different youth leaders:
We do try to emphasize professional development with members who are active members... we also offer certified training in things like counselling – basic counselling and those who were recommend by the teacher B+ and over, we allowed them to go on to the advanced counselling. We did mediation training where a few of them have since been certified with the mediation board…. You know UWI Open campus offers psychology, photography and so on, based on the interest of the members, he sent his members to be trained in different things they were interested in.
We have a lot of capacity building activities and I think that is happening because of CSP influence, so as opposed to a mother’s day event we would say why don’t you engage the mothers in some sort of budgeting or skills development to help make them more employable because we have a lot of unemployment in our communities or writing a resume that kind of thing.
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Community development activities were initiated and implemented at two levels, through the
initiatives of CSP program officers and through youth group led-initiatives. Development
activities which focused on the community included formal community training such as
meditation skills, violence prevention programs, domestic violence and entrepreneurial training
for youths, and community building projects such as parks’ refurbishments, walkathons,
homework centres, parent education programs and life skills programs. It was pointed out that
most participants were able to initiate their own community development activities, independent
of CSP directives and funding.
In terms of the HRD phase approach, they were variations in its’ use from highly
structured to highly informal. Programs executed by CSP’s staff typically met the rigorous
methods of needs analysis, design and implementation and evaluation. Evaluation reports were
published for each program that was conducted. However, for those programs that were initiated,
designed and executed under the youth club leadership, findings indicated a less structured,
informal utilisation of the HRD phases.
Building Social Capital
Findings are categorized under Coleman (1988; 1990)’s classification of social capital:
structural, which assesses whether or not HRD activities create networks of affiliation and; (2)
cognitive, which determines whether these existing networks produce social resources such as
trust, norms, information, all of which are beneficial for positive action.
How relations are formed: formal and informal networks
Through every day formal and informal exchanges with others, most youths had the
opportunity to develop formal and informal social ties with a wide grouping of individuals
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including but not limited to peers, community members, business professionals, program
administrators and other resourceful persons. Some youths expressed that formal networks were
created as they were involved in daily activities tasks in designing and delivering program
activities. Partnerships were formed with numerous government and non-governmental agencies
within and outside the community. One such example is observed in the creation of a Youth
Friendly Space project in the Pinto Road community. The completion of this project relied on
partnerships between the Community Action Council (CAC), the Ministry of Sport and Youth
Affairs, UNCIEF, UNPA and the Regional Corporation (CSP achievements Report 2011; Pinto
RIP 2009). These interactions assisted in fostering ties with resourceful personnel, who, to date
are being utilised to serve other instrumental purposes in the club. The overseeing body’s
structure, the Community Action Council (CAC), also creates the opportunity for youths to
interact with a wide cadre of community members. The CAC typically is made up of community
residents, church people, police and principals of schools or any individual who has a vested
interested in the club.
Remarks from youth club leaders from the Pinto Road Police youth club and Pinnacle Youth
Stars reflect this:
CSP does a lot to bring actors that weren’t traditionally engaged together, together. So one with our community action counsel we are able to bring people who were need in the same circle together.
They generally learn things like how to work in a team and so on and then we always try and incorporate parenting element, where people who are parents or people who can be looked up to as co-parent or be looked at as community parent are engaged in the programs as volunteers. So that kind of helps build relationships between youth and elders but also all of the trainers and so on are expected to sort of model what healthy relationships between youth and adult should be like.
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Some young people also spoke about how these repeated interactions assisted them in creating
new and strengthening existing formal and informal relations. In explaining how group
membership assisted with building relationships, some focus group respondents remarked:
Youth group helps me meet people I used to see but never know
It has people who come here and talk to us and thing. Some of them help out even though they don’t come like Mr. Jagoo’s who own the big store in Arima.
Being a part of the Community Action Council helps expose us to much more people in the community. They also refer us to other people that can help the youth group or what we are doing.
Increasing civicness participation beyond the youth group
The program administrators noted a change in participants’ attitudes and motivation to join other
community groups. The CSP Community and Need Specialist officer pointed out:
If you think about our life skill programming which is about changing attitudes and behaviours, the outcomes we seek to do there, to change attitudes about involvement; to promote engagement with pro social peers; to create opportunities for pro social involvement.
Some young people chose to get involved in other community events and groups outside those
sponsored by CSP. These young people commented that the learning they received within the
club, often inspired them to do more for their community.
Is like the fact that we are in a youth group people come and sit down and talk to us about so many things so it makes you think if we do this then Pinto will be in a better place. And people think of Pinto in a certain way, so being here and doing other things in the community, we can help it be a better place.
Other youths noted that through program activities they were also able to acquire information
about other community clubs like sport teams, pan (musical instrument) groups that were of
interest to them.
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COGNITIVE SOCIAL CAPITAL
Benefits of participating: access to social resources
Through participation, youths gained the opportunity to access a wide range of social
resources. The program administrators and youth group leaders identified that when a youth
takes part in club activities, they are often intentionally provided with material and non material
resources such as financial assistance, career guidance, school supplies, counselling. Program
administrators often drew upon multiagency support from NGOs like Rape Crisis, Domestic
Violence, and other government ministries including Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs,
Ministry of National Security and Ministry of Education, which increased access to a wide
variety of essential resources. One youth group leader from the Pinto Road Police Youth club
remarked that:
So there is a lot of work around exposing them to you know the potential, even if we can’t fund it ourselves, because the officers also do a lot of work of bringing in- like when there things advertised in the papers, things people could do, we take them to the community, post them in the community centres that kind of thing.
Most young people also supported that through participation in training and other learning based
interventions, they were able to acquire material and non-material resources, not easily accessed
by non-members. Based on the information obtained the Social Exchange Matrix resources
ranged from cash, school supplies, clothes, training, information (job opportunities, career days,
sporting opportunities) and, counselling, career support and advice and other forms of informal
support. Participants acquired information about job opportunities, career days, sporting
opportunities and other extra circular opportunities. The figure below highlights the responses
and reveal that both internal and external relations play a key role in providing material and non
material resources.
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Youth leader Closed related family members
People who visit Youth group members
5 4 213 7
16 101 2 2 2 3 2
16 9 4 4 110 127 8
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3 3 1 7 82
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Resource MatrixCash FoodClothes Medicine School supplies Introductions to Potential employeesImportant Information In Kind services
Figure 2- Youths Resource Exchange Matrix
When asked directly about how the exchanges in these networks, with other agencies and guest
facilitators provided resources, the majority of youths expressed the sentiment that they were
able to “gain something that other youths (those not in the youth club) did not have the
opportunity to receive.” The attitude of many youths is captured in this expressed statement of
one 15 year old participant from the Pinnacle Stars youth club, “being in the club help widen my
resources, meet more people , what people does call high level, associate myself with them and
eventually I have someone I could call later down in life.”
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Unity with each other: whither social cohesion?
Both participants’ responses and documentary analysis data demonstrated that
participation in CSP lead to a more cohesive community. When communities engage in joint
training or skill development activities, they were able to gain physical space and time to better
know and build relations with each other. For instance, in a recently concluded Organizational
Enhancement Rapid Impact Project (RIP) in Samaroo/ Mootoo Lands CSP, the evaluation
document identified the goal of the project was to “minimize the growing separation between
Samaroo Village and Mootoo Lands since the training will bring together organizations from
both sides of the community.” The evaluative report also stated that seventy –five percent (75%)
of the participants who were evaluated agreed that the communities were now collaborating to
complete projects and a further 83% indicated that the project encouraged community members
to develop positive relationships with each other. Only a minority of participants (25%) felt that
this program had no effect on improving closeness amongst community members. For program
administrators, participation was directly responsible for increased cohesion.
To think the communities we have brought that intangible hope and we have also shown
the residence that they can be resilient. That a murder in our community should not be
tolerated but we can address it. You know no matter where we come from we can do
something about it as individuals coming together as a collective.
But I think it is also true to say that if you look at a CSP community in 2008 and you look
at it now, in terms of how people work together, how they interact, the way that they
solve conflicts, the type of things they are willing to do for their neighbours, there has
been a change, a definite change.
In the perceptions of some youths, club activities provided opportunities to forge new and
strengthen existing relations with peers and adults. In the Pinto Road community, youths spoke
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of being segregated by community border lines, “upper Pinto” and “lower Pinto.” However,
through their engagement in CSP program activities, they were able to breakdown some of the
historic barriers. A young focus group participant commented on this change:
Before we never walked down to the end down there…but now it have youth group members down there…friends... so now if we go down nobody does really harass us ..Everybody cool
Likewise, in the Samaroo/Mootoo lands, most young people spoke of the social divide that
existed between persons living in Samaroo Village and those residing in Mootoo lands.
However, since their involvement in CSP funded projects, like the publication of their first
community magazine, familiarity has increased between themselves and neighbours; they are
now more willing to look out for and help out each other.
Other young people commented on how in their involvement in community events (events
outside of the club meeting) resulted in them attaining the label of a “youth club member”.
Labelling, in part, were deemed by them to improve the ease through which they were able to
form new relations and improve existing ones.
Also, it seemed that an increase sense of cohesion improved youths’ attachments to their
neighbourhood. As many young people, across both communities, spoke about if they were to
leave their community, they would miss it. Many of their sentiments were that “they born and
grew up here” and were finally “fitting in.” Contributions from other youths also reflect this idea
that community cohesion was increasing.
Although you may not talk to them always, it has an unspoken sense that I could lean on you in case of anything
Everybody in my neighbourhood does interact especially of you on youth club agenda they would talk to you
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Yes it improves relationship because before you may not have spoken to somebody but now you are meeting with them on regular basis so you are able to relate to them better...a relationship is formed...as opposed to someone living in your community who you see drive pass or walk past every day, now you this is Mr. So and so.
To trust or not to trust?
Coleman’s idea of social capital places a high value on trust as a core aspect of
community social capital. Young people defined trust as “believing in somebody” and “being
able to know somebody will be there for you no matter what.” In these communities, however,
trust levels among community members were low and eroded. In the opinion of the CSP
Community and Need Specialist officer, the two community levels of trust were reflective of the
country’s trust levels.
So I would say nationally we have a challenge with trust. We don’t trust our government, we don’t trust the community next to us – why they get and we don’t get. So those values are still present in the community that we work in (CSP Community Action Officer).
Mistrust also appeared to be associated with individuals’ past experiences with
neighbours. Youths across both communities did not hesitate in explaining their reasons for the
distrust of certain community members. Their remarks were:
There are some individuals in the community you might want to stay far from and then others you can but not everybody and anybody you can go around trusting.
I don’t trust dem people because .when you tell a neighbour something you must see it on CNC3[local TV] because the whole world know your business.
On the contrary, in-group trust levels were relatively higher. Evidence across the three
groups meetings echo sentiments that reflect deeper trust relations with each other. A twelve year
18
old female participant stated that “its 50/50 here, I still don’t trust everybody but I trust them
more than others. Another male respondent from the Samaroo/Mootoo lands village club voiced
“I could speak to people in the club... I have no problem trusting them.”
Transmitting of Social Norms and Values
Youths’ participation in these group activities exposed them to pro social norms and
values. The content of certain program activities focused on directly encouraging acceptable
behavioural norms and values. As the youth group leader from the Pinto Road Police club
explicitly identified:
The type of training environment that most of our programme are expected to keep, they are a lot of values are transmitted that are pro social and positive.
Another youth group leader from the Pinto Road, also remarked:
In our meetings, try our best to teach good values, bring in role models that they can
identify with and learn the right from the wrong
Most youths’ responses on the question which sought information about the values learnt in these
programs also support they acquired behavioral norms and values. When asked to state one word
that best describes what they have learnt, these were some of the words: integrity, courage,
honesty, social awareness, self respect and good behaviour.
Emerging Theme: Friendships: an important source of social capital
The repeated exchanges among peers within the group encouraged closer knit peer to
peer relations than those held with adults. Even with peer to peer relations, most participants
generally expressed they forged closer friendships with peers in the club than those in their
schools or neighbourhood. One 14 year old, Pinto Youth Stars female participant in describing
her relationships with members of the group simply stated “here feels like home.” In their own
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expressions, participants spoke about peer levels of trust, peer social control, and exchange of
resources, which are all indicative of peer social capital. A few remarks are extracted to reflect
these sentiments:
Everybody accepts me for who I am so I don’t need to pretend and don’t need to be anything I am not...gives me a sense of belonging I am not an outcast anymore. (belonginess)
It has certain members of the youth club from before I used to watch dem n think they were negative and I don’t want them kinds of people around me but joining the youth club I ended seeing people aren’t what I use to see and they are really human beings. And how I seeing then and how their personality is and how they does act, they actually not what I thought they were...so yes I can trust them.(peer trust)
You learn to lead as an example because when you doing the right thing your friends here watching you. If I do the wrong thing, then they will say ‘Angel’, do the right thing and I will follow them (social control)
Social Capital Effect on Problem Behaviour
As evident in the focus discussions, the availability of social capital resources generated
within these groups may be related to youths opting to choose positive actions over criminal
choices. Membership in varied networks, access to material and non material resources, trust,
peer relations and neighbourhood cohesion were seen to be particularly important in restraining
negative choices. The remarks extracted from different youths across the three clubs reflect this:
Youth club changes the character of us youths, most things we used to do, we don’t have any desire to do any more….because we know better and this is the better way (16 year old female Pinnacle Stars youth).
Some of us would be different version of us. We would have been worse than we are now. In attitudes, behaviour and maturity and maturity means discipline tolerance and knowing there is a time and place for everything (14 year old male Pinto Road Police Youth Club youth)
Sometimes, like if you have a friend in the group and you trust them a lot she might encourage you to go someplace bad. Most of the time they doing something to prove to their friends that I can do this and do that (15 year old female Pinto Youth Stars youth).
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Being here makes you feel comfortable doing good things because that is what we are about in our youth group trying to make the community a better place. And in order to do that we have to do good things so if we shame to do good things then we should just follow the bad company. But the youth group now giving us a sense that the good thing is the better thing, so when we doing things we feel proud (17 year old female Pinto Youth Stars youth).
If you close with your neighbours you will think in a sense that you always have somebody looking at you...but if you not really close with them they will not really take you on…do you can do as you please (15 year old male Pinnacle Youth Stars youth).
Analysis of these findings shows that the community social capital elements created in these
programs can possibly steer youths away from antisocial choices. The analysis also identified
characteristics that were not direct measures of social capital but still appeared to influence
youths’ choices. These included (1) the element of time, in terms of time of the meeting and the
time required to participate in these activities of the youth groups/clubs; (2) pride and
commitment to the youth club and (3) positive role models. It is possible to argue that as much as
community social capital elements have an important influence on youth choices, other
characteristics stemming from these programs are equally important in shaping youth outcomes.
DISCUSSION
Through the use of qualitative methods, this study sought to examine the relationships
between HRD, social capital and youth criminal choices. Overall, the study found that HRD
activities generate weak and strong ties that link youths together within the community. Given
other studies (e.g. Nakamura and Yorks 2011; Brooks and Nafuhko 2006) hypothesise HRD
activities start and maintain repeated network exchanges within organization members, this study
establishes that these connections also exist between youths and adults in the community context.
By virtue of network membership, youths were able to acquire structural and cognitive elements
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of social capital. This study reveals that the type of social capital generated, differed by the
strength of the network affiliation which existed in these relations. Findings distinguish that
strong networks were valuable in providing a complimentary set of material and non-material
resources like money, school supplies or social support, norms and belongingness. In contrast,
weaker ties, characterised by infrequent exchanges and formal connections were less beneficial
for material resources, but richer for non-material resources like job information, career advice
and behaviour norms. Such findings are consistent with prior studies that establish that social
networks produce cognitive or material elements of social capital such as trust, norms; social
support information channels that aid with the exchange of social resources (De Clercq et.al
2012; Putnam 2000; Paxton 1999). These resources may be instrumental in influencing youths’
choices away from problem behaviour.
The findings from this study suggest that development activities may potentially change
behaviour, but not directly through the learning content delivered. Rather through the networks
exchanges that transpire among those individuals engaged in the learning process (Storberg-
Walker and Gubbins 2007). This shifts the focus of how we measure the success of learning
programs in creating behaviour change. Instead of examining individual characteristics like age,
aptitude or language skills, very successful learning interventions can be evaluated based on their
ability to generate resourceful social networks, which may promote behaviour change. This
contribution addresses a theoretical gap petitioned for in Storberg- Walker and Gubbins (2007)
conceptual paper, which recognises there is limited understanding of how social relationships
formed in HRD contexts are beneficial for youth outcomes.
Future research may benefit from social capital, HRD and crime research might be
expanded to explore whether anti-social youths accumulate and utilise social capital resources
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differently from pro-social youths. Since this study’s target population were non-incarcerated
youths, the findings make a contribution to the desistance literature. Future research can utilise
comparative research methods to identify how these associations may vary with incarcerated or
previously incarcerated youths and thereby providing useful data that can help integrate HRD
and social capital approaches in recidivism policies. More theoretical and empirical research is
needed to explain the interdependencies that link HRD with social capital components.
Alternative studies can possibly explore how individual characteristics like learning aptitude or
personality traits inhibit or facilitate the translation of HRD into social capital resources. This
would provide a more holistic understanding on how factors stemming from the individual level
interact with group level processes (HRD) to create community level impacts (social capital).
CONCLUSION
Nevertheless, this study lays an important foundation by substantiating with empirical evidence
how the social network perspective bridges the connections between HRD and social capital
paradigms. These findings offer initial and important insights into how local youths draw on
social capital resources generated within development initiatives to stay away from crime. Crime
prevention programs can benefit from refocusing on HRD as a powerful differentiator to alter
and improve the life pathways of young people. Policies should seek to incorporate strategies
that rely on social capital, both structural and cognitive resources, across adolescents’
socialization contexts of the family, school, peer and community to promote desistance.
23
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