Social Capital

Sociology is defined as ‘The study of human social life, groups and societies’ (Giddens, 1989). It involves describing and analysing how different forces such as social, cultural, political, and economic have on behaviour and an individuals identity. (Van Kreiken et al.2000). Furthermore, it encompasses the complex connections on a micro level along with those on a macro level thus enabling sociological imagination.

Social capital is the is the social connections that allow for social interactions in which an individual has opportunities to build bonds, help others out, and affect change for the better. When the social engagement is reciprocated, it can produce benefits for the multiple individuals engaged in the activity and so further the circumstance of the society.

Social capital is defined as the capacity of social institutions, such as families, churches, schools, or other community organizations to make an investment of attention and advice, support and concerned interest in other community members according to reformer L.J. Hanifan. As a dependent of the community social capital is applied to my everyday life. It helps me to obtain resources for my education such as scholarships, teaches me how to work together with my peers, becoming a positive role model to youth, and build trusting relationships with others in the community. Social capital is seen as a support group from leaders in the community.

However, this definition is too grand to be applied directly to sociological research on urban community. Therefore, on the basis of the original conceptualizations, sociologists afterwards further develop and

A key part of engaging in sociology is to adopt a sociological viewpoint or 'think sociologically'. Etymologically, sociology is the 'study of society' but this doesn't differentiate sociology from other forms of social study. Hence, many begin to describe thinking sociologically by what it is not - it is not thinking politically, thinking anthropologically, thinking historically or thinking psychologically, for example (Berger 1966: 11-36; Reiss 1968: 2-3). Others try to determine the nature of sociological thinking by detailing practical phenomena which can be thought about such as social systems and their subsystems, social institutions and social structure, and social aggregates, relationships, groups and organisations (Reiss 1968: 1),

Through the evolution of social bonds, individuals have always been under scrutiny to abide by a list of rules in order to be successful in their community. This ideology is made evident in the book, The Code of the Street, by Elijah Anderson. Anderson dissects and exposes the various issues dealing with families in urban minority communities. These families are labeled as “street” and “decent”. The connotation of the term “code of the street” is a set of accepted and understood set of rules in which “street” and “decent” families abide by in order to function in modern-day street society. These regulatory rules are known as a “code” because this term is not blatantly stated, but mutually understood by those living in these disadvantaged communities.

High social capital refers to the social connections which exist between people who shared their values and norms of behavior, which enable and encourage cooperation. According to Portes and Rumbaut, “since there are many families who do not possess the means to promote educational success, initiation of resources to

Professor Robert D. Putman spent time studying and writing about the decline in America’s social capital and civic engagement. The observations talked about in Putman’s “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” have shown a decrease in community involvement and social interaction. In the twentieth century there has been noticeable declines in community involvement. Putman offers the argument that traditional interactions possibly have just been replaced by more modern versions of engagement. Whatever the case, he presents that this is leading to a fall in social capital, which provide certain issues for society. When there is an abundance of social capital in society, there is better education, better economic standing, reduced

According to Social Capital and Mental Illness: A Systematic Review, social capital is a combination of social groups, associational life, community involvement, and trust in others. Social capital can happen through informal and formal establishments. An example of informal establishment is a community or financial status group. Formal establishments can occur through groups like neighborhoods and government structures. Singular social capital can be viewed as a measure of one’s evaluation of their surroundings, their interpersonal organizations, and their level of cooperation in their group. Social withdrawal is when one suffering with mental illness is more averse to having dynamic influence of a group. Based on this, it would be expected that one with a mental illness would score poorly on individual social capital

Social Capital is defined as the networks of relationships among people, enabling that society to function effectively. James Coleman’s “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital” examines the many benefits of social capital in a society. However, most forms of social capital are public goods and do not primarily profit the person who has to bring it about. Therefore, it’s not in his interest to bring it leading to a shortage. Coleman wants to apply economics’s principle of rational action to the social perspective to increase people’s willingness to socialize. On the other hand, Alejandro Portes’s “The Two Meanings of Social Capital” challenges Coleman’s concept by arguing that people shouldn’t

People have been separated by social group and financial classes for years, creating inequalities that push people farther apart. Income inequality is one of the biggest concerns of today; according to recent Census Bureau data, the 25% highest income families receive 40% of U.S. income and the 25% lowest income families earn 9.64%. Furthermore, to couple with the issue of income disparity, is the realization that wealth disparity is even greater. The low level of education standards, lacking sense of security and crime rates are higher near the lowest income families. When seeing this information, a connection can be made between these social changes and the income and wealth inequality, consider this connection being between social capital and socioeconomics.

Population aged over 60 years has been increasing rapidly compared to other age groups and this has a tremendous impact on the healthcare sector which needs to addressed accordingly (WHO, n.d.). One billion people in the world turn 60 years of age every month; out of these 80% live in developing countries (WHO, 2007). By the year 2050, 2 billion will be beyond 60 years old. (WHO, 2007; Help Age International 2003; WHO 2000). Longevity has been increased globally due to advances in the technology (Wang et al., 2012). On the other hand, physical and mental health challenges increased with these particularly in older people, which may leads to social isolation. Social capital approach may correct social isolation as it is directly associated with quality of life. Social capital has become important approach in public health within last few decades. Social capital is defined as “collective feature of social structures, such as levels of interpersonal trust and norms of reciprocity and mutual aid, that arise from social networks, act as resources for individuals, and facilitate collective action”(Coleman, 1990; Putnam, 1993, p.112). It makes possible for individual to obtain resources such as idea, gathering information, money as well as services. This paper will focus on analytic issues linked with health, policy and benefits of social capital in terms of health care for older people at a national and international level.

Bourdieu argues that capital is what makes “the games of society” more than just a simple game of chance (Bourdieu 1986: 241). It is the energy that drives the development of a field through time (Grenfell 2008). Bourdieu does not restrict capital to its economic sense, however; he expands the concept to other non-economic forms. By this expansion, Bourdieu shed light on other forms of capital which are seen as disinterested and purposeless (Bourdieu, 1986). According to Bourdieu (1986), the forms of capital are economic capital (money, other financial resources and material assets), social capital refers to social networks and contacts of the individual, cultural capital is the education and knowledge and the symbolic capital is the status

Where social partners work collaboratively leads to high skill, high wage and high-value economy. In coordinated market economies (CME), the institutional configurations of facilitating non-market modes of coordination of the close relationship between various stakeholders to create a higher degree of trust that build networks to exchange information. These close relationships enable social partners to work collaboratively to shape skills and skill use in the workplace such that firms are able to pursue high-quality product market strategies (Bosch & Charest, 2008; Busemeyer & Trampusch, 2015; Hall and Soskice,

One of the most recent patterns in utilizing the energy of web-based social networking is to outfit the online energy of representatives. Online networking master, Ted Rubin, included by Forbes magazine in their Top 15 Social Media Power Influencers of 2013, trusts that connections are the new cash and that a fruitful web-based social networking procedure can be conveyed by engaging individual representatives who thus control the organization mark. This individual way to deal with mark correspondence is especially reasonable for little and medium measured organizations. Their scale implies they are in a position to screen the cooperations amongst clients and workers and as the procedure can be executed with negligible cost, it is financially savvy as well.