IV.  So What?
CHAPTER 16:  Introduction

A.     The Need for Social Capital

-      Social capital diminished steadily over the past two generations

-      Civic connections improve quality of life and have positive effects

-      “Social capital allows citizens to resolve collective problems more easily” (288).

o       People better off if they cooperate.

-      “Social capital greases the wheels that allow communities to advance smoothly” (288).

-      Those with trusting connections to others acquire character traits that are good for society.

-      Many get jobs through personal connections

o       Often more important than talent and training

-      Those who have a life full of social capital “cope better with traumas and fight illness more effectively” (289).

B.     Examining Social Capital Across the U.S.

-      Social capital was rated across all states.

-      14 indicators of “formal and informal community networks and social trust” were used and combined into a Social Capital Index (291)

o       Social trust:  17% in Mississippi, 67% in North Dakota

o       Voter turnout in recent presidential elections:  42% in North Carolina, 69% in Minnesota

o       Average number of club meetings attended each year:  4 in Nevada, 11 in North and South Dakota

-      High social capital “centered over the headwaters of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and extends east and west along the Canada border” (292)

-      Low social capital “centered over the Mississippi Delta and extends outward in rising concentric circles through the former Confederacy” (292)

-      National average represented in California and the mid-Atlantic states

-      The higher the fraction of the population that is from Scandinavia, the higher the degree of social capital in that state

-      The more deeply rooted slavery was in a given state, the less civic the state is today.

           

            CHAPTER 17:  Education and Children’s Welfare

A.     Child Development

-      “Social capital keeps bad things from happening to good kids” (296).

-      Children flourish in states that score high on the Social Capital Index

o       North Dakota, Vermont, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa

-      Using statistical tools, factors may be held constant so that researchers can establish links between social capital and child well-being.

-      Social capital important in preventing low-birth-weigh babies, reducing the drop out rate, keeping kids off of the streets, and reducing the number of babies born out of wedlock.

-      Child abuse rates higher where neighborhood cohesion is lower

B.     Social Capital and School Performance

-      States scoring high on Social Capital Index have better educational outcomes than other states

-      “The level of informal social capital in the state is a stronger predictor of student achievement than is the level of formal institutionalized social capital” (300).

-      Civic engagement high, teachers report lower levels of misbehavior in schools and higher levels of parental involvement

-      Students may perform better in states with high social capital because they watch less TV

-      Learning is not only influenced by what happens at school, but also what goes on at home, social networks, and trust in the wider community

-      Parents involved—children do better in school—schools they attend are better

-      Smaller schools often outperform larger schools

o       More opportunities for involvement in extracurricular activities, clubs, etc.

-      Catholic schools do better than public because, “’Catholic schools benefit from a network of social relations, characterized by trust, that constitute a form of ‘social capital’” (304).

-      Social capital within the family affects child development

 

            CHAPTER 18:  Safe and Productive Neighborhoods

A.     Crime in Neighborhoods

-      “Social disorganization” is the prime contributor to neighborhood crime, vandalism, etc.

-      According to Jane Jacobs, a scholar of urban life, social capital “is what most differentiated safe and organized cities from unsafe and disorganized ones” (308).

-      The higher the levels of social capital, (if all other factors are equal) the lower the levels of crime.

-      Proportionately fewer murders in states with high levels of social capital

o       Lethal violence much more common in the South than in the rest of the country

-      States with low levels of social capital are more likely to agree with the statement, “I’d do better than average in a fist fight.”

-      Neighborhood characteristics greatly influence individuals’ behavior

-      Most Americans are less involved in their neighborhoods than their parents were.

-      Some neighborhoods have less crime than others

o       Mutual trust and altruism

o       Intervene when children are misbehaving

-      Strong family social capital may spill over into the surrounding neighborhood.

-      Gangs established in an attempt to create social capital where it is lacking

-      High levels of trust exist within many inner-city neighborhoods or ghettos

-      However, inner cities have less social capital than they once did

-      Unfortunately, neighborhood crime is more likely to succeed in middle-class areas where it is not needed.

-      Poor people have little economic capital and have difficulty acquiring human capital (education).  This makes social capital extremely important to their welfare. (318)

 

CHAPTER 19:  Economic Prosperity

A.     Social Connections

-      Those who are better educated or in economically stable families are more likely to have valuable social ties, which help them to succeed.

o       These ties may help an individual get a job, a bonus, a promotion, or other benefits. (318)

-      Strong ties—closest friends or family members (will hear of the same opportunities)

-      Weak ties—more distant acquaintances (lead to more unexpected and possibly lucrative opportunities)

-      Unemployed people use social networks and institutions in seeking employment and look to friends and relatives for possible job opportunities

-      Rotating credit associations—a group, often ethnically based, in which members make regular contributions to common fund, available to each contributor in rotation (320)

-      A business executive’s social ties are at least as important as educational qualifications and experience.

-       One study found that “each employed person in one’s social network increase one’s annual income by $1,400.

-      Social capital can help individuals, neighborhoods, and nations to create wealth.

-      Neighborhoods with high social capital tend to have housing values that remain relatively high.

            CHAPTER 20:  Health and Happiness

A.     Social Connectedness and Health

-      More integrated in community, less likely to suffer from colds, cancer, heart attacks, strokes, depression, and premature death

-      According to sociologist James House, “the positive contributions to health made by social integration and social support rival in strength the detrimental contributions of well-established biomedical risk factors like cigarette smoking, obesity, elevated blood pressure, and physical inactivity” (327).

-      Social cohesion matters for health

o       Social networks provide assistance in the form of money, care, and transportation which reduce stress

o       Socially isolated people more likely to smoke, drink, overeat

o       Strong communities more likely to organize politically for positive change

-      “People who are socially disconnected are between two and five times more likely to die from all causes, compared with matched individuals who have close ties with family, friends, and the community” (327).

-      Moving to a state high in social capital is as good as quitting smoking for improving one’s health.

-      The elderly that are involved in clubs, volunteering, or local politics are in better health than those who are not involved.

-      If one belongs to no groups and joins one, he or she cuts his or her risk of dying over the next year in half. (331)

-      A general decline in social participation has been observed over the past 25 years

-      Those with close friends, neighbors and co-workers are less likely to be sad, lonely, have low self-esteem, or problems eating and sleeping.

B.     Staying Happy

-      “Getting married is the ‘happiness equivalent’ of quadrupling your annual income” (333).

-      According to survey data, people over 55 are happier than people their age were a generation ago.

 

CHAPTER 21:  Democracy

A.     Self-Government?

-      Philosopher John Dewey said, “Democracy must begin at home, and its home is the neighborly community” (337).

-      Founding Fathers were against political parties and local political committees, believing that they would threaten political stability

-      Voluntary associations and social networks have effects on democracy

o       Give individuals an opportunity to express their interests and concerns with respect to the government

o       When individuals join together, their single voice is joined by others and is more likely to be heard

o       Associations help members to learn cooperation and “public-spiritedness” (338)

o       Members learn how to “run meetings, speak in public, write letters, organize projects, and debate public issues with civility” (339).

-                  High school seniors who are involved with voluntary associations are more likely to vote, participate in political campaigns after graduating

-                  Some voluntary associations are not necessarily good for democracy

o       i.e.  the KKK

Associational ties benefit those who are already ahead in society:  those with education, money, status and ties to members of their community

                                    *  Some worry that participation is linked to extremism

-      Organizations are typically homogeneous and may simply reinforce their members’ ideas and isolate them from new information.

-      “Political polarization may increase cynicism about government’s ability to solve problems and decrease confidence that civic engagement makes any difference” (341).

-      Some who join voluntary associations will learn cooperation and compassion, while others will become more narcissistic.

-      “Citizenship is not a spectator sport” (341).

-      If less people participate in politics, those that are left are likely to be more extreme.  (the moderates tend to drop out first)

-      Those with more extreme views are more involved in the political process even though most Americans describe themselves as “moderate” or “middle of the road.”

-      Most political discussions are informal (at the water cooler or the dinner table).

-      Instead of face-to-face active political participation, many join agencies to represent their interests, which may be effective.

-      However, these agencies are no substitute for more personal forms of political involvement. (344)

B.     Italian Government

-      Italians set up twenty regional governments in diverse settings (social, economical, and political).

-      Some new governments failed miserably while others were very successful.

-      In regions with many active community organizations, the governments are successful.

-      Where engagement and involvement are not as prevalent, the governments are less effective.

C.    Civic Traditions

-      A 1950s study identified three cultures:  “traditionalistic” in the South, “individualistic” in the Mid-Atlantic and western states, “moralistic” in the Northeast, upper Midwest, and Pacific Northwest (346)

-      Tax compliance is higher in states with high levels of social capital

-      Those that believe that others are dishonest or do not trust the government are themselves more likely to cheat on their taxes.

-      Communities high in social capital contribute significantly more funds to public broadcasting.

 

CHAPTER 22:  The Dark Side of Social Capital

A.     Thoughts on Social Capital

-      “Is social capital at war with liberty and tolerance?” (351)

-      Tolerance has increased in recent decades

o       1956—50% of white Americans thought that blacks and whites should go to separate schools

o       1995—only 4% had the same feelings

o       1973—45% of Americans thought that library books that advocated homosexuality should be banned

o       1999—26% had the same sentiments

-      Although becoming more tolerant, Americans were also becoming more disconnected from one another and their communities.

-      More individual freedoms are now present while organizational solidarity has declined.

-      Community and liberty may be compatible.

o       The more engaged a person is, the more tolerant he or she is apt to be (more open to gender equality, racial integration, rights of controversial individuals, etc.)

-      Individuals from high social capital states place greater importance on civil liberties, racial and gender equality than those from low-social-capital states.

-      Increasing tolerance is due to the replacement of the less tolerant generation born in the first half of the twentieth century, with the more tolerant boomers and X’ers (born after 1945).

-      The most engaged and most tolerant are those born from 1940-1945.

B.     Is Social Capital at War with Equality? (358)

-      Social capital may bond us to others like us.

-      Community and equality are not necessarily incompatible.

-      Two trends developed in America 1965-1970

o       Less economically just

o       Less connected socially and politically

-      Social capital may foster equality

-      Equality may foster civic engagement and social capital.

-      Social connectedness and equality may be fostered by external forces.