A Sociological Study of the Relationship between Social Capital and Cultural Deviance (Case Study: Undergraduate Students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University)

The changes that have occurred in recent decades have dramatically affected the formation and intensification of social problems among the youth. One of the problems caused by these developments is cultural distortion among people. The concept of social capital, following the nature and content, is associated with social problems and harm. The present study is aimed at studying the cultural deviance among undergraduate students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University and seeks to study the relationship between social capital and it. The study employs a survey researchconducted on 366 undergraduate students of the Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University in the academic year of 2016-2017 who were selected via the stratified sampling method. Validity and reliability of the research Instrument were analyzed through factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha, which indicated the appropriate validity and reliability of the research instrument. The research findings indicate that there is a significant indirect correlation between social capital and its dimensions (social trust, social participation and social cohesion) with cultural deviance. Moreover, three variables of social trust, social participation, and social cohesion have been able to explain 30 percent of the cultural deviance.