Social Capital and Health

Ichiro Kawachi & S. V. Subramanian

The concept of social capital was originally developed in sociology and political science to describe the resources available to individuals through their membership in community networks. In contrast to financial capital, which resides in people's bank accounts, or human capital, which is embodied in individuals' investment in their education and job training, social capital inheres in the structure and quality of social relationships between individuals. Coleman (1990) identified several forms of social capital, including levels of trust within a social structure, “appropriable” social organizations, norms and sanctions, and information channels. Appropriable social organizations are groups established by individuals to address a particular problem, which can be subsequently appropriated to solve other problems of collective action. For example, a group of residents in a neighborhood might volunteer to establish a community policing association. Besides monitoring and preventing the occurrence of crime in the area, the same association is now potentially Although ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.