Download Illness Behaviour

Social Capital
Social Capital
• This is a paradigm used to explain differences
in health and illness between social groups.
• It is a sociological theory that states that the
quantity and quality of a person’s social
relationships and social networks play an
important part in their maintenance of health
and at the same time provide resources for
their recovery from illness.
Social Capital
• The idea is that the more people you
know and the type of people you know will
affect your health.
• For example, if you have lots of friends
and work in a professional environment,
you are more likely to have access to
information about health and good health
care.
Social Capital
•
Social networks influence disease
patterns:
1. Forces of social influence
2. Levels of social engagement and
participation
3. Regulation of contact with infectious
disease
4. Access to material goods & resources
Social Capital
• Social relationships & affiliation have powerful
effects on physical and mental health.
• Often social networks, social support, social
ties & social integration are used
interchangeably (but they are different).
• Attachment theory (Bowlby) – universal
human need to form close affectional bonds.
Created in childhood, adult equivalent =
marriage (offers security).
Measurement of Social
Capital
• Network analysis (structure &
composition of the network)
– focuses on the characteristic patterns of
ties between actors in a social system
rather than on characteristics of the
individual actors themselves and use these
descriptions to study how these social
structures constrain network members’
behaviour.
Social Capital
• Problems:
– Needs to describe more precisely the
linkages between health, social
membership and social psychological well
being
– Needs to give a more coherent account of
these social relationships
Related Terms
• Cultural Capital
– This refers to the familiarity someone has with the
dominant culture in a society, particularly the ability to
understand and use ‘educated’ language.
– The more cultural capital you have the greater your
educational achievements
• Educational Capital
– Research on his area indicates that it isn’t necessarily
the schools that impact upon a child’s educational
attainment but the support and influence the child gets
from his/her parents and the other parents in a school.