No “Bad Friends”? Immigrant-Origin Adolescents’ Peer Social Capital Mobilization in the U.S. and Switzerland

Abstract

This paper investigates the peer social capital of immigrant-origin adolescents and their agency in mobilizing their peer relationships across three schools in the U.S. and Switzerland. Data from 22 immigrant-origin middle school students encompassed 41 hours of semi-structured interview data, including egocentric social network data. Participants in both contexts were agents of their social networks and developed and leveraged their peer social capital selectively and with the purpose of being supported, being validated, feeling accepted, and being friends with integrous and trustworthy peers (i.e., no “bad friends”). The findings illustrate how students in different contexts perceived different social categories (e.g., race/ethnicity, immigrant background) as important for social capital mobilization, and how school disciplinary measures stigmatized some students as “bad friends.” Based on these findings, the paper highlights the need to critically examine the consequences of student grouping, school policies, and disciplinary measures on students’ social integration.