SOCI 588 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Dopamine Receptor D2, Social Capital

• School: McGill University
• Department: Sociology (Arts)
• Course: SOCI 588
• Professor: Aniruddha Bobby Das

Document Summary

In an attempt to correct the exclusive tendency of gene-environment studies to focus on a single social factor at a time, shanahan et al. offer the concept of environmental contingency to account for the broader social context at play. More specifically, they highlight that little attention has been devoted to social capital influences in gene-environment studies. Social capital is defined as links that connect actors to resources that can facilitate the acquisition of something of value. Therefore, high levels of social capital (link-resource configurations) attenuate drd2 risk, but students with drd2 risk will be least likely to have high levels of social capital. The study consisted of 3 waves of data collection from 80 high schools measuring student-parent relationship, parent"s involvement in the school, resource components (such as ses of parents, school quality, and school continuation). In white boys, a configuration of high ses, high parental involvement, and high quality schooling can largely compensate for drd2 risk.