Download The Importance of Social Capital

Employment and Social Capital
by Al Condeluci
[email protected]
[email protected]
The notion of friendship is a critical one to all of us. In fact, friendship is often a concept
that is thought to be so simple that it hardly merits any deep study or discussion. We
know that friendships are important, but rarely do we ever think we have to work at the
concept. However, the notion of friendship is a critical, especially for people who have
experienced a disability, and there is much for us to consider.
Sociologists use the term, “social capital” to describe friendship. To the academics, the
term “capital” is one that relates to resources that can advance or promote a profit. They
speak of physical capital which refers to things like land or machinery. Economic capital
might refer to goods, or services that drive an economy. “Human capital” is often
thought to be the people needed to do the work to create the goods or services.
Social capital, however, in the eyes of the academic, suggests the connectedness among
and between people. Research is now convincing that the more social capital people
have in their lives, the better their lives become. In fact today we know that the more
social capital people have in their lives the healthier they are, the happier they are and –
listen to this – the longer they live. That is right – social capital, or friendship is linked to
the 3 highest quality of life indicators know to humankind!
Now this is powerful stuff and has real implications for all of us. We know too that
social isolation (the opposite of social capital) is one of the biggest challenges that people
with disabilities have and that families fear. This has been continually verified in our
experience and in the literature.
You don’t have to dig too deep to understand the reality of social isolation, or limited
social capital for people with significant disabilities. We hear over and over again, and
see in vivid ways, that people with disabilities have less friends and social opportunities
than people without disabilities. In Social Capital: The Key to Macro Change (2014) we
report on a recent Community Engagement Survey conducted by the Interdependence
Network (www.buildingsocialcapital.org) showing that people with significant
disabilities have nearly two-thirds less – yes, 66% less – social capital than their ablebodied peers!
This is powerful and penetrating finding – and begs for some basic answer and actions.
And like most vexing questions, the answers are simple, yet complex, and the direction
should be clear – all people are better when they have more social capital – people with
disabilities have less social capital – so how can we help people (all people, with and
without disabilities) develop more social capital.
For those of us at this gathering the notion of employment is front and center. Yet we
have struggled in our traditional efforts to get people jobs. Some estimates show that
nearly 76% of people with disabilities are either unemployed, or under-employed.
Certainly we know that sheltered workshops do not offer the economic or social status
found in a gainful job.
But when we begin to think about “social capital” and how this construct might serve this
challenge a whole host of new possibilities emerge. By considering the current social
capital of the folks we serve we can consider:
The consumer
His/Her Family
Their extended Family
Friends, and Friends of Friends
The neighbors
Others who know the consumer directly
Often when “Person Centered Planning experts do their thing, these are often the people
they enlist first. Using a “Social Capital Employment Perspective,” this also offers us a
starting point.
Next we have our own social capital network. That is, who are the people you know who
might be solicited to assist in the job development agenda. This would include:
Your Family
Your Friends
People you know, or have some connection
Then you might consider your work colleagues, starting with your Executive Director.
Certainly they have a plethora of friends and family who might be able to help in the
search. Don’t forget others in your work environment, and especially the administrative
team. These folks know folks who might open up doors.
This gets to your agency Board of Directors. Most disability agencies are governed by a
volunteer board of people committed to the agency. Often these people get recruited as
they want to do something “good” for their community; to “help” people who are less
fortunate than they. But the most powerful way a volunteer can help is to open up their
“rolodex” (millennial’s will not know what this means, but you older folks do!). People
know people, and people trust people they know. Your board of directors offer a
tremendous step forward in helping people get jobs; if only we use them in this capacity.
In a way it is a numbers game. If theory is correct, and the average person has 150 folks
in their social capital network, and then you begin to expand the loop exponentially, you
can reach thousands of people who might be helpful in the employment quest.
Remember, it is now what you know – it is who you know that really matters, and by
exploring the relationship rings you can open up a huge gold mine of possibilities
The 4 steps, which I summarized in my book, Together is Better (2008) have been used
since by families, and support professionals as they work to help people with disabilities
develop, maintain, or sustain these important relationships in our lives. When people
become connected – and this includes any of us – good things begin to happen. These
strategies of engagement can work for many things that have eluded people with
disabilities.
And so, let’s get to work. Regardless of where you find yourself in the scheme of things
you can help in this effort. All of us play a variety of roles in our community. To this
extent you are a potential “gatekeeper” in building social capital. Think about this the
next time you are engaged in community and do your part to help build social capital.
(For more on social capital see, www.alcondeluci.com or follow @acondeluci on
Twitter).