Social Capital Definition

Many researches recognize the importance of social capital, but statistics shows that American population have experience an erosion of social capital in the past decades. As a result, Americans lost “the ties that bind us to communities and neighborhood” (McPherson, 4). Generally, where there is declining social capital, there is worsening social isolation. However, new studies have contradicted findings toward the previous researchers. According to Rankin and Quane’s experiment in ghetto community, people still have active civic engagement with low social capital. In this condition, besides social capital, there are other factors that promote people’s engagement in the community activities. Therefore, in extreme poor neighborhood, social
According to Putnam’s definition, social capital serves as a foundation for coordination and cooperation. Coleman states that like human capital and physical capital, social capital is productive, “making possible the achievement of certain ends that in its absence would not be possible”(Coleman, 1). Social capital such as wide social network and sufficient social trust help promote interpersonal interactions within a community. Social capital takes many forms and is defined by its function. Rankin and Quane define social isolation as “the lack of contact or of sustained interaction with individuals and institutions that represent mainstream society” (Rankin & Quane, 4). In their research, they measure two types of social isolation: network composition isolation and organizational participation isolation. Network composition isolation has three measurements: “employment, public aid, and educational status of the respondent’s friends” (Rankin & Quane, 5). Community organization isolation has two measures: the mother’s community organizational participation and the community involvement of
Because poor people experience more difficulties both financially and non-financially on a daily basis, they are more depending on people in their community. Compared to more self-sufficient families, low-income families are more likely to need help from their neighbors, such as to help babysit their children or to borrow some money to make the rent. Another concern is that poor neighborhood often has higher crime rate; therefore, people need to form connections so that they can look out for each other at difficult times. All these reasons contribute to the surprising finding that “families are more likely to participate when they reside in the poorest neighborhood.” (Rankin & Quane,