A social capital approach to the prevention of elder mistreatment

The current demographic landscape features an increasing number of elderly individuals in the care of some trusted other. Being cared for by a trusted other raises the potential for mistreatment of the elder by that trusted other. The goal of this paper is to explore the possibility of preventing elder mistreatment by increasing the bridging and bonding social capital available to caretakers. Attending to social capital lets researchers expand their focus toward areas rarely examined through current stress-outcome models (e.g., interpersonal interactions). First, elder mistreatment and social capital are defined and discussed. Then, a model is forwarded that details how social capital might mitigate the effects of caretaker stress and decrease the probability that caretakers will engage in elder mistreatment in both home and long-term care institutional settings. Finally, implications for future research and practical intervention are discussed.     

Economic growth and social capital: A critical reflection

Theory and Society -     

A social capital approach to improving public relations’ efficacy: Diagnosing internal constraints on external communication

This article extends Heath's (2006) concept of fully functioning society theory (FFS) and argues that public relations can be used as a force to enhance collective social capital in communities. To serve this purpose, however, the effectiveness of an organization to serve its external publics is often dependent on the status and relationships the public relations function has developed within the organization. This paper provides a network analysis of a government agency in Jordan that illustrates the relationship between internal organizational social capital and the potential problems for establishing external relationships with publics. Implications for public relations research methods and theory are also discussed.     

Social exclusion and social capital: A comparison and critique

Social exclusion and social capital are widely used concepts with multiple and ambiguous definitions. Their meanings and indicators partially overlap, and thus they are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to the inter-relations of economy and society. Both ideas could benefit from further specification and differentiation. The causes of social exclusion and the consequences of social capital have received the fullest elaboration, to the relative neglect of the outcomes of social exclusion and the genesis of social capital. This article identifies the similarities and differences between social exclusion and social capital. We compare the intellectual histories and theoretical orientations of each term, their empirical manifestations and their place in public policy. The article then moves on to elucidate further each set of ideas. A central argument is that the conflation of these notions partly emerges from a shared theoretical tradition, but also from insufficient theorizing of the processes in which each phenomenon is implicated. A number of suggestions are made for sharpening their explanatory focus, in particular better differentiating between cause and consequence, contextualizing social relations and social networks, and subjecting the policy ‘solutions’ that follow from each perspective to critical scrutiny. Placing the two in dialogue is beneficial for the further development of each.     

Beauty and social capital: Being attractive shapes social networks

It is a fact of life that being beautiful is advantageous (Hamermesh, 2011). Whether we consider incomes or the marriage market, the more attractive one is, the better one does. Drawing on psychological research that explains why beauty pays, we hypothesize that more attractive people will exploit social network opportunities differently than less attractive people and, consequently, their networks will comprise more beneficial features. As predicted, results of an experiment showed that more attractive people were more likely to select for themselves more profitable broker positions in networks relative to other positions and relative to less attractive people. Relying on network data supplied by young professionals, in a follow-up study we found that the networks of more attractive people were relatively less dense, as the findings of Study 1 would imply. We discuss the implications for our work as well as highlight the need for further research into an understudied, but potentially influential brokerage contingency factor—physical appeal.     

A note on social capital and network content

As a guide to selecting name generators for social capital research, I use network data on a probability sample of heterogeneous senior managers to describe how they sort relations into kinds, and how the kinds vary in contributing to social capital. Managers sort relations on two dimensions of strength - intimacy (especially close versus distant) versus activity (frequent contact with new acquaintances versus rare contact with old friends) - and with respect to two contents - personal discussion (confiding and socializing relations) versus corporate authority (the formal authority of the boss and informal authority of essential buy-in). Comparing name generators for their construct validity as indicators of social capital, I compute network constraint from different kinds of relations, and correlate constraint with early promotion. The correlation is strong for the network of personal relations, zero for the network of authority relations, and strongest for personal and authority relations together. I close with research design recommendations for selecting name generators.     

Affinity as social capital: its role in development

One form of social capital is a relationship of affinity and regard among people. The capital metaphor can be useful in identifying processes of investment and disinvestment. Caring can be an economic asset that complements and substitutes for other assets.     

Street children in Moscow: using and creating social capital

The paper analyses the strategies of homeless street children in Moscow connected with the accumulation of social capital. Based on recent empirical research, it looks at the involvement of children in non‐criminal and criminal subcultures as a way to get access to important networks and resources, and shows how young people use their social skills and appropriate subcultural norms and values in order to build alternative careers. It demonstrates that children's social background plays an important role in their trajectories in the urban informal economy and society, and that they should not be viewed, as it is usually suggested in the social exclusion paradigm, as a single dispossessed mass which has fallen through support networks in various risk scenarios. Research data is reviewed to provide evidence that Moscow's homeless children are resourceful and deeply social agents who fmd surrogate families and ad hoc social memberships.     

The rationality of social structure: Cooperation in social dilemmas through investments in and returns on social capital

We develop a game-theoretic model of how social structure in the sense of a network of relations between actors helps to mitigate social dilemmas. We simultaneously endogenize the network by modeling actors’ incentives to establish the network. Since the network of relations helps to mitigate social dilemmas, it constitutes social capital. We thus analyze investments in and returns on social capital in social dilemmas and characterize the value of social capital. Our model covers a class of social dilemma games including the Trust Game, the Investment Game, the Prisoner's Dilemma, the two-actor Public Goods Game, and others.     

Measuring social capital accumulation in rural development

Using a theoretical framework, the study proposes an index that can measure the social capital of local action group (LAG) projects. The index is founded on four indicators: number of ties, bridging social capital, recognition, and diversity, which are aggregated into one social capital index. The index has been tested in LAG-Djursland, Denmark, and the study further investigates whether the organisational affiliation, project financing, and LAG co-financing can explain the degree of social capital accumulation. Furthermore, the author has tested if there are connections between motivation for pursuing development projects similar to those implemented previously and the degree of social capital. The paper concludes that there are indications that projects hosted by municipalities tend to show the most social capital, there is no connection between the amount of project financing and social capital, and a high level of motivation leads to increased social capital.     

The subjective dimension of social isolation: A qualitative investigation of older adults' experiences in small social support networks

In the aging literature, social isolation has been primarily defined in terms of reduced support network size and low frequency of social contacts. Having a small social support network is associated with social isolation and an increased risk of physical and emotional vulnerability. However, this conceptualization ignores the contributions of a host of other factors, including life experiences, family dynamics, and long-term patterns of socialization. This paper argues that alongside quantitative assessments of support systems, the application of a life course perspective is needed to understand small social networks as lived experience. We report on findings from 28 in-depth interviews with older adults identified as being at risk of social isolation on the basis of the self-reported size of their social networks. We discuss these participants' experiences in the context of significant life course transitions such as marriage and widowhood.     

Facilitating achievement by social capital in Japan

Social capital, as a comprehensive concept, comprises structural components representing social networks and functional components, which register past and future help, reciprocity, and trust. One assumption is that these various components interact and reinforce one another to enhance an individual's expected achievement. To validate the conceptualization and examine the consequences of social capital, the present study analyzed a set of data collected from 201 residents based in Japan. The results demonstrated that conceptualization proves to be valid in view of its adequacy in internal consistency and stability in the confirmatory factor model. The structural equation modeling likewise revealed contributions of the social capital components both individually and interactively. Notably, the Japanese respondents expected greater achievement with higher levels of both structural social capital and anticipatory functional social capital, which consequently tapped expected help, trust, and reciprocity. Structural social capital appeared to be a basis for functional social capital.     

Working with burns survivors: A social work approach

Abstract

Adjustment to a major burn may be a prolonged and demanding journey for patients, families and staff working with this client group. As well as recovering physically, patients must wok towards a psychological recovery by confronting a complex range of emotional responses to their injury. We outline the psychosocial impact of burn injury and suggest ways in which the social worker can assist in the adjustment process during the hospital admission both in the acute and the rehabilitation phases, including a case-management approach and the establishment of a support group for survivors.     

Multiple social contexts in qualitative bereavement research

Little research focuses on the ways that bereaved family members react to and make meaning of their experience of the death of an elderly father and husband. In a qualitative, ethnographic study of 34 bereaved families we examined how family members respond to two inter-related social contexts: 1. social-cultural values and attitudes such as attitudes toward grieving for old persons, and 2. the inter-personal dyadic relationship between interviewer and interviewee. An underlying theme of uncertainty pervades the study participants' views of what is normal and expected in their own process of bereavement. Implications for future bereavement research are suggested.     

Gender differences in the creation of different types of social capital: A multilevel study

This study examined gender differences in the creation of hard and soft social capital in a sample of 352 female and 486 male faculty members. Men were shown to be more effective in creating hard social capital, but, unexpectedly, women were not found to be the emotional specialists they often are thought to be. Moreover, multilevel analyses indicated that men were more effective in using emotional intensity of ties to create hard social capital, and they were also more effective using team-related resources to create both hard and soft social capital.     

Protecting ecosystems: network structure and social capital mobilization

The research reported here explores a community that amassedsocial capital in effective and diverse ways, enabling it tofight a corporate giant and protect critical, large watersheds.We explore how the dynamic interaction between network formationand network structure augmented community social capital, particularlybridging, for increased access to human and economic capital.Network structure(s) can create enabling conditions for themobilization of social capital within communities and for peopleto feel empowered to act. The research suggests that there isan opportunity for policy-makers to learn what kinds of policiescan enhance or destroy existing social capital in a community.     

Challenging sexual violence against girls: A social awareness approach

Most strategies to prevent child sexual abuse rely on therapeutic work with abusers or direct work with children training them to recognize and resist molestation. However, many authors, activists and professionals in this field assert the need to challenge broader social attitudes towards sexuality and violence. In 1992 an attempt at such an intervention was employed by Edinburgh District Council in their “Zero Tolerance Campaign”. This was a public awareness campaign which aimed to increase people's understanding of the extent and nature of violence against women and girls and to emphasize that such crimes should not be tolerated. Through challenging misconceptions, encouraging public discussion and focusing on strategies to prevent such crimes, the campaign organizers hoped to transform the social climate which is conducive to the abuse of women at any age. This article explores public response to the Zero Tolerance Campaign and, in particular, focuses on reactions to the two advertisements which addressed the sexual abuse of girls.     

Ethnic ties: social capital and the question of mobilisability

This paper reflects on the concept of social capital through a discussion of the differential uses of ethnic ties for minority ethnic groups. It is argued that we should confine the notion of social capital to mobilisable social ties and networks. Resources such as those found in ethnic networks and bonds will only be social capital if they are mobilisable and usable in pursuing social advantage. This will only happen in the presence of a number of factors including the social valuation of the ethnic ties both within and outside the ethnic category, the social location of the actor (for example their gender) and the social context. The paper elaborates a concept of social capital which recognises the need to embed it within social hierarchies.     

A network approach to clinical social work

This article describes a technique that attempts to combine the best of the traditional clinical psychotherapeutic method with the advantages of a social systems approach. The technique is based on the assumption that the solution to a variety of human dilemmas lies within the collective resources of an individual's social network. The vehicle for accomplishing this is the Network Session in which professional, care-givers meet with a client and his natural social network to facilitate client growth, and to design and implement a strategy for more effective service delivery. Two case studies are included to demonstrate the method.The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful comments of Joseph Greaney and Ellen Galligan.