Social capital in its place: using social theory to understand social capital and inequalities in health

Abstract

Social capital has been controversially linked to public health benefits, particularly as an explanation for the relationship between economic inequalities and health. This paper focuses on social capital in this context, particularly a recent emphasis on social capital in neighbourhoods and growing use of Bourdieu's social theory in empirical investigations. A review of some of this work is used to suggest the need for a more coherent theoretical approach to using Bourdieu and to introduce an ethnographic study of social connections in New Zealand. Forty-six residents of, a rural town, a deprived city suburb, or an affluent suburb, volunteered to be interviewed about their social connections. Their talk was transcribed and analysed in terms of everyday practice. The results of this study suggest that social connections are not necessarily located in neighbourhoods, and that social capital will be better understood in a broader social context which includes competition for resources between deprived and non-deprived groups, and the practices of all citizens across neighbourhoods. When considering social capital, an exclusive focus on deprived neighbourhoods as sites for research and intervention is not helpful.