Nguyen Quy Thanh & Cao Thi Hai Bac Abstract: This paper is intended to analyse the symmetry and/or asymmetry of social capital of the Vietnamese through three dimensions, namely quantity, type, and context of help. Based on data collected from 1430 respondents in five cities/provinces in Vietnam, these three dimensions are compared by using the Paired-samples T-test and McNemar non-parametric test. The findings suggest that social capital in Vietnam is generally asymmetric in terms of the quantity of help, and is rather symmetric in terms of the types of help and contexts of help. Particularly, help such as psychological support, sharing of important information and some contexts of help such as business investment, purchasing durable goods are usually asymmetric as there is more help received than help provided between involved partners. This asymmetry is closely linked to the closeness of friendship of an individual with his/her friends; thus, the more intimate the relationship is, the more likely the social capital becomes asymmetric.
Keywords: Reciprocity; Social capital of Vietnamese people, Symmetry and asymmetry of help; Symmetric and asymmetric of social capital.

Abstract: Using a questionnaire from the Families and Neighborhoods Study 2010, this article examines “Maltreatment of children in Hanoi, Vietnam – The role of neighborhood”, focusing on physical abuse and neglect. The research provides strong evidence of the importance of neighbourhoods in prevention of maltreatment in childhood, and of the injuries and fatalities stemming from it. Separate from neighbourhood structure, neighbourhood process is associated with both increased and decreased rates of child maltreatment. Further, informal social control has relationships with minor abuse but in the positive direction, indicating that social informal control could actually increase the rate of minor child abuse.
Key words: Children; Neighbourhood; Children maltreatment, Child abuse.