Social Capital Among Women Offenders: Examining the Distribution of Social Networks and Resources

Studies investigating the trials and tribulations of women offenders in the United States are becoming increasingly common. One theme in the literature is that successful reentry of women offenders is dependent on support of social networks. Generally, social theorists posit that a variety of positive outcomes is associated with healthy social networks. For example, networks provide social structural resources (“social capital�), which in turn promote acquisition of skills and knowledge (“human capital�) to achieve goals that would otherwise be unattainable. This article investigates the differential distribution of social networks in terms of size and resources (i.e., support) across social groupings (e.g., race, age) using a sample of adult female felons. The results show that (a) better educated and higher income offenders are members of larger social networks, and (b) poorly educated women offenders, women with annual legal incomes below $8,000, and younger offenders have access to lower levels of support.