The popularity of social capital and its potential benefit to understanding the complex arena of mental health research, has increased exponentially, despite the lack of consensus over a conceptual and empirical definition. Due to the escalation in adolescent suicide rates globally, the following research study sort to understand the association between Bonding Family Social Capital and Bonding Peer Social Capital and adolescent suicide risk. The sample was made up of 259 adolescent learners, from grades nine to eleven, from a school in the Durban Metropolitan area. The results of the study confirmed the hypothesis that adolescents categorized as being ‘at risk’ (i.e. had suicide ideation and/or attempt suicide) had lower mean Bonding Family Social Capital and Bonding Peer Social Capital then those adolescents categorized as ‘not at risk’ (i.e. did not have suicide ideation and/or attempted suicide). These findings are essentially supportive of contemporary multidisciplinary evidence indicating that supportive family and peer networks can serve as a protective buffer against adolescent suicide risk.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.