The Effect of Social Capital on Delinquency: A Case Study of Young Delinquents (Aged 18-29) and Ordinary Youths in Karaj City

The purpose of this study was to explain the effect of social capital on juvenile delinquency (aged18-29 years old) in the three crimes of murder, robbery, and drugs trafficking in Karaj city; therefore, the study was applied in nature. The research method was descriptive and causal-comparative, while the data collection instrument was document-analysis used along with a researcher-made questionnaire. The research population was comprised of young criminals convicted to robbery, murder, and drug trafficking – who were imprisoned in Karaj penitentiary in 2016 – as well as ordinary young people. Two hundred participants were randomly selected as the statistical sample. For data analysis, both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used. The results showed that the increase in social capital has an effect on the reduction of delinquency rate among the youths of Karaj city.