Social Capital and Complexity Theory

I09 1

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Abstract

Social capital, as a research variable, has gained international popularity in public health and health disparities research. In the U.S., an Institute of Medicine report has recommended that the next generation of health promotion research should be focused on designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions that build social capital. At an international level, the World Bank has identified social capital as a critical aspect of poverty alleviation efforts. Missing from the research is the ethnographic investigation of social interactions to refine the conceptual domains, attributes, and variables. Such a refinement would create a theoretical framework for hypothesis testing and intervention design. Therefore, the purpose of our research trajectory was to develop a more complete understanding of social capital for research purposes and practice application. Methods: The Hybrid Model of Concept Development provided the methodological framework for the study. Participatory observation and theoretical sampling examined the facilitating or constraining influences on mutually beneficial collective action in 3 neighborhood settings. Results: Using the paradigm and language of complexity theory as an interpretive lens provided a theoretical fit with the findings from the data. Understanding groups as complex adaptive systems provided an explicit distinction between the structural and cognitive domains and resulted in a definition of social capital as an emergent cultural phenomenon. Trust was distinguished as the attractor, the point in any behavioral field through which all relationship trajectories eventually travel. More importantly, variation in the cognitive domain, understood as cultural patterns of interpreting meaning, significantly altered the probabilities of successful collaboration. Conclusions: We believe that the value of this theory lies in its practice and research potential to evaluate initial conditions, invest resources to address issues of trust, and self-monitor relationships to maintain successful partnerships.