social capital

Social capital theory originally developed by sociologist James Coleman in 1987 and 1988 helps explain how certain characteristic of families neighborhoods and communities affect student success in school.

Coleman identifies 3 kinds of capitals:

·         Financial capital: (money and equipment) money can buy to produce goods and services.

·         Human capital: (skills and knowledge) allow people to act in purposeful ways including to earn living

·         Social capital:

-describe the organizational relationships among people that facilitate the collective section.

-create a flow information containing norms that establish trust worthy and predictable contexts for organize activity.

Coleman presents the rotating-credit association common in south East Asia as an example of social capital. This association is informal groups comprised of friends, relatives and neighbors that meet regularly to contribute to and draw upon a central fund of money. The association accumulate financial capital which in turn is used by members whose human capital allow them to produce goods and services through business and finally can produce the social capital by a collective organization based on shared, trust, common expectation that no one will abscond with the money. The individual when possess these attributes they become powerful only when they connect with one another and organized to act.

            The social capital within the family is developed through informal social relationships that occur between parents and their children, if they share a set of expectations, norms then Coleman argues (inter generational closure) tends to occur. Examples if parents are friends of the parents of their children’s a network of social relations exists who promote a flour of information and communicate the youth with adults make a strong social capital.