6d. Focus on: Social Capital as an Outcome of Community Mobilization: Is This a Realistic Goal for Population Health?  

What is Social Capital?

Originating in the field of political science, social capital refers to the key aspects of social organization — such as community or civic engagement, norms of reciprocity, and a sense of trust in others — that foster collaboration for collective benefit.1 In the context of community mobilization addressing population health issues, social capital can be regarded as both an existing community asset as well as a desired outcome if a lack of social capital is identified as a deficit.

This short video outlines the key concepts of social capital:

Bosch, Rodger (n.d.). The reception at the business center of the Ngqura Harbour. Retrieved from https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/resources-downloads/media-library/images/rml-content/buildings-structures

Perspectives on Social Capital: Putnam vs. Bourdieu

In practice, social capital theory is commonly associated with “micro-level” community-based interventions, although theorists vary in their degree of emphasis.²

Robert Putnam, author of the famous book on civic engagement, Bowling Alone³, takes a view of social capital that emphasizes concern with cohesive community networks, shared norms, and social trust in order to facilitate greater cooperation for mutual benefit.

Pierre Bourdieu, by contrast, emphasizes the value of social capital as a resource enabling individual access to social and economic resources through the mobilization of social networks (e.g., finding a job or better housing).⁴ Unlike Putnam, for whom individual actions contribute to greater social cohesion, Bourdieu more closely engages in the relationship between social capital and social inequality through focusing on how society can provide individuals with more equitable access to resources.²

Implications of Social Capital for Community Mobilization Addressing Population Health Issues

Social influences matter. For example, a 32-year longitudinal study has documented that the body weights of your social network, your friends, neighbours, and family members can influence your own body weight. When one network member gains weight, her/his close friends are more likely to gain weight.⁵ This study is part of a growing body of evidence on the linkages between social capital and health outcomes, including inequities in health.^{6, 7}

Harsha K R (2011, June 5). Friend in Need. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisharsha/5832815994. CC-BY-SA 2.0

There is, however, less agreement on the implications of these relationships for population health practice. Critics of population health approaches focusing on building social capital have noted that dimensions of social organization, such as social capital, are outcomes of more macro-level economic and political processes affecting the allocation of material resources, which, in turn, affect levels of social stratification and cohesion.^{8, 9} This underscores the inter-dependence of the social determinants of health noted in Module 2. While building social capital arguably should not be the sole focus of population health approaches, the notion of social capital can generate new ideas about the processes influencing community interactions and their attendant impacts on health.¹⁰