Leisure, Social Capital and Life Turns in Deviant Youth

Abstract

The production of social capital in a specific area of everyday life such as leisure time and the different socio-cultural it is experienced in is a very interesting research issue, especially in the light of certain pecific meanings of the notion of social capital, such as Bourdieu's or, more recently, Putnam's. Nonetheless, this research issue is scarcely taken into consideration in Italy. Albeit inexaustively, this paper intends to introduce this issue starting from a brief review on the generation of social capital in youth's leisure time contexts. In the first paragraph I problematize the notion of social capital as referred to leisure time contexts as well as analyze either the social capital literature dealing with the modes and experiences of leisure time, or the leisure time literature focusing on the construction of social capital in leisure time contexts. In the second paragraph I discuss some studies regarding the ways in which a particular age range - youth - produces social capital in leisure time contexts. In the third paragraph I focus on some studies regarding the issue of youth's leisure time as a potential antisocial time. In the fourth paragraph I introduce the discussion about the little importance given to public leisure in the service provision for youth's leisure time and the consequences determined by that in terms of social capital erosion. The conclusion offers three metaphors for understanding the trends of leisure time and sociability