Religious communities’ intergenerational closure replicates Catholic-school dropout benefits.
Evidence
A further test is possible, for there were eight schools in the sample of non-Catholic private schools (“other private” in the analysis above) that have religious foundations and over 50% of the student body of that religion. Three were Baptist schools, two were Jewish, and three from three other denominations. If the inference is correct about the religious community’s providing intergenerational closure and thus social capital and about the importance of social capital in depressing the chance of dropping out of high school, these schools also should show a lower dropout rate than the independent private schools. Item 3 of table 2 shows that their dropout rate is lower, 3.7%, essentially the same as that of the Catholic schools. — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 199
Categorization
- QUESTION: Coleman uses religion as a proxy for closure — but is this capturing religious belief itself or the dense adult networks? Worth probing how separable the two are.
- XREF: connects to: Religious service attendance predicts lower dropout independent of school religious affiliation. — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 186; Intergenerational closure among parents generates social capital and effective sanctions for raising children. — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 125; Religiously-founded private schools show low dropout rates matching Catholic schools (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Religious service attendance predicts lower dropout independent of school religious affiliation.
#qualifies(0.85) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 186 - Intergenerational closure among parents generates social capital and effective sanctions for raising children.
#expands(0.85) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 125 - Religiously-founded private schools show low dropout rates matching Catholic schools
#corroborates(0.85) - Effective parenting norms depend on closure across generations between families
#expands(0.82) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 121 - Closed communities enforce trust through overlapping religious, family, and residence ties.
#expands(0.80) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 46 - Social capital in the surrounding adult community lowers student dropout rates.
#expands(0.75) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 198 - Family background splits into financial, human, and social capital that affect achievement differently
#expands(0.75) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 139