Somewhere to Live, Something to Do, Someone to Love: Examining Levels and Sources of Social Capital Among People with Disabilities

Abstract

Social capital has emerged as an important ingredient in the maintenance of physical and mental wellbeing. Although this construct has been studied within the disability community, a comparative analysis of social capital among individuals with disabilities and the general population is missing from the literature. Also sparse is an investigation into the sources from which people with disabilities draw their social capital. Building on the seminal work of political scientist Robert Putnam, a modified version of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey was administered to 218 adults with high support needs living with a broad range of disabilities and currently receiving support from one of six disability organizations across the United States and Canada. Chi-squared analyses were conducted to test for differences between observed frequencies and expected frequencies obtained from general population surveys on six key measures of social capital. Results indicate that, in most areas, social capital levels among individuals with disabilities were lower when compared with those of general population respondents. In cases where social capital levels were higher than or comparable to general population respondents, an incongruity between subjective evaluations and quantitative reports, and/or support received from non-normative sources such as parents and professionals are likely explanations. Our findings support continued efforts by rehabilitation professionals to facilitate community integration for people with disabilities through the promotion of friendships and other social relationships in a variety of contexts.

Sosyolojik Bakış Açısıyla “Engelli” Gençlerin Sosyal Sermayesi Üzerine Kuramsal Bir Çalışma

“…Burcu (2013) notes that young people with disabilities face increased social risks of isolation, loneliness, harassment, and suicide in comparison to young people without disabilities. Dimakos et al (2016) have asserted the importance of understanding the needs and problems of youth with disabilities in dealing with such problems and facilitating their inclusion in the social fabric, as well as acknowledging the significance of their social capital. This study presents a conceptual framework of the social capital of young people with disabilities.…”

Job Seekers with Musculoskeletal or Sensory Disabilities: Barriers and Facilitators of Job Search

“…For example, researchers have considered how job search outcomes are influenced by contact with trade unions (Richards and Sang, 2016), community organizations (Fujimoto et al, 2014) and others with disabilities (Kulkarni and Gopakumar, 2014). Recent studies also explore how connections with health professionals and friends (Dimakos et al, 2016) or neighbours (Waverijn, Heijmans and Groenewegen, 2017) affect the social resources of people with disabilities.…”

“…Each has commonalities of experience with the job seeker via their familiarity with disability. Each is also likely to be an influential part of a job seeker's interpersonal network, because DETA advisors and family members are more likely to be centrally located between the job seeker and job-relevant contacts (Dimakos et al, 2016). However, despite their potential importance, the influence of these stakeholders across the multi-stage job search process has received limited study.…”

“…People with and without disabilities differ in the number, structure and form of social relationships they hold (Green et al, 2005). People with disabilities tend to have lower social capital and their social network is characterized by a relatively small number of strong ties to family members (Dimakos et al, 2016). Strong ties originate not only from shared family experiences and upbringing , but also from an extensive transfer of resources to the job seeker via disability-related care and assistance received from family (Kulik, Cregan and Bainbridge, 2013).…”

“…This is problematic as it is increasingly apparent that job seekers with disabilities have Job Seekers with Disabilities 83 a distinct experience. For example, recent studies illustrate how job seekers with disabilities use unique job search pathways offered by government disability employment agencies (Kulkarni and Scullion, 2015), rely on qualitatively different personal networks (Dimakos et al, 2016;Langford, Lengnick-Hall and Kulkarni, 2013;Petner-Arrey, Howell-Moneta and Lysaght, 2016) and face distinct social expectations about their abilities (Baldridge and Kulkarni, 2017;Jammaers, Zanoni and Hardonk, 2016). Despite this growing interest, the process by which job seekers move from initial dispositional states to employment offers, and the roles of employment agencies, family and disability type in that process, are yet to be fully elaborated.…”