BookIchiro Kawachi, Soshi Takao, S.V. Subramanian, editors.
Summary: The idea of social capital emerged in the social science disciplines to explain puzzling phenomena such as why some communities fare better in crisis than others. As the field matures, it has been adapted to wide-ranging issues such as population health. This book presents the major research issues as well as nuanced theoretical discussion in keeping with an evolving field in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Background chapters analyze how social capital manifests in neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools, and its relationship to health. The second half offers guidelines for improving population health at the social capital level, and examples of interventions, such as microfinance programs, in which enhanced social capital and health benefits are a significant by-product. And a number of contributors debate the problems of defining the concept and using the term at all.
Contents:
Introduction
Workplace social capital and health
Social capital in schools
Causal inference in social capital research
Contextual determinants of community social capital
Neighborhood social capital and crime
Disaster, social capital, and health
Advancing social capital interventions from a network and population health perspective
Social capital interventions to promote healthy aging
Microfinance and health
The social capital of welfare states and its significance for population health
Social capital, social policy, and health disparities: a legacy of political advocacy in African-American communities
What's wrong with social capital? Critiques from social science.