Social capital and adolescent health risk behavior in El Salvador

An emerging body of research suggests that the social capital available in one's social environment, as defined by supportive and caring interpersonal relationships, may provide a protective effect against a number of youth risk behaviors. In exploring the potential protective effect of social capital at school and at home on adolescent health and social risk behavior, a comprehensive youth risk behavior study was carried out in El Salvador during the summer of 1999 with a sample of 984 secondary school students attending 16 public rural and urban schools. The following dissertation, entitled Social Capital and Adolescent Health Risk Behavior in El Salvador, presents three papers centered on the topics of social capital and risk behavior. ^ Paper #1. Dangers in the Adolescent River of Life: A Descriptive Study of Youth Risk Behavior among Urban and Rural presents prevalence estimates of four principal youth risk behavior domains—aggression, depression, substance use, and sexual behaviors among students primarily between the ages of 13 and 17 who attend public schools in El Salvador. The prevalence and distribution of risk behaviors is examined by gender, geographic school location, age, and subjective economic status. ^ Paper #2. Social Capital and Adolescent Health Risk Behavior among Secondary School Students in El Salvador explores the relationship between social resources (social capital) within the school context and several youth risk behaviors. Results indicated that students who perceived higher social cohesion at school and higher parental social support were significantly less likely to report fighting, having been threatened or hurt with a weapon, suicidal ideation, and sexual intercourse than students with lower perceived social cohesion at school and parental social support after adjusting for several socio-demographic variables. ^ Lastly, paper #3. School Health Environment and Social Capital : Moving beyond the individual to the broader social developmental context provides a theoretical and empirical basis for moving beyond the predominant individual-focus and physical health concerns of school health promotion to the larger social context of schools and social health of students. This paper explores the concept of social capital and relevant adolescent development theories in relation to the influence of social context on adolescent health and behavior. ^

A focused ethnographic study of community social capital

Social capital, a relatively new public health concept, represents the intangible resources embedded in social relationships that facilitate collective action. Current interest in the concept stems from empirical studies linking social capital with health outcomes. However, in order for social capital to function as a meaningful research variable, conceptual development aimed at refining the domains, attributes, and boundaries of the concept are needed. An existing framework of social capital (Uphoff, 2000), developed from studies in India, was selected for congruence with the inductive analysis of pilot data from a community that was unsuccessful at mobilizing collective action. This framework provided the underpinnings for a formal ethnographic research study designed to examine the components of social capital in a community that had successfully mobilized collective action. The specific aim of the ethnographic study was to examine the fittingness of Uphoff's framework in the contrasting American community. A contrasting context was purposefully selected to distinguish essential attributes of social capital from those that were specific to one community. Ethnographic data collection methods included participant observation, formal interviews, and public documents. Data was originally analyzed according to codes developed from Uphoff's theoretical framework. The results from this analysis were only partially satisfactory, indicating that the theoretical framework required refinement. The refinement of the coding system resulted in the emergence of an explanatory theory of social capital that was tested with the data collected from formal fieldwork. Although Uphoff's framework was useful, the refinement of the framework revealed, (1) trust as the dominant attribute of social capital, (2) efficacy of mutually beneficial collective action as the outcome indicator, (3) cognitive and structural domains more appropriately defined as the cultural norms of the community and group, and (4) a definition of social capital as the combination of the cognitive norms of the community and the structural norms of the group that are either constructive or destructive to the development of trust and the efficacy of mutually beneficial collective action. This explanatory framework holds increased pragmatic utility for public health practice and research. ^

Exploring the role of social capital influence variables on travel behaviour

This paper explores the potential role of individual trip characteristics and social capital network variables in the choice of transport mode. A sample of around 100 individuals living or working in one suburb of Madrid (i.e. Las Rosas district of Madrid) participated in a smartphone short panel survey, entering travel data for an entire working week. A Mixed Logit model was estimated with this data to analyze shifts to metro as a consequence of the opening of two new stations in the area. Apart from classical explanatory variables, such as travel time and cost, gender, license and car ownership, the model incorporated two “social capital network” variables: participation in voluntary activities and receiving help for various tasks (i.e. child care, housekeeping, etc.). Both variables improved the capacity of the model to explain transport mode shifts. Further, our results confirm that the shift towards metro was higher in the case of people “helped” and lower for those participating in some voluntary activities.

Capital social, capital relacional e innovación: un análisis de su incidencia en el desarrollo del distrito de Arequipa, Perú

El capital social –que según algunos autores contiene también el capital relacional- es el elemento que posibilita que la sociedad se mantenga unida, en otras palabras es el “pegamento social”. El rol de los elementos que le constituyen, y que son en su mayoría inmateriales, ha comenzado a cobrar mayor importancia en los diversos aspectos de la vida, de manera especial en el ámbito económico. Por otro lado, una de las diversas perspectivas que se encargan del desarrollo territorial (Camagni, 2003) ofrece un marco teórico general que engloba en un solo modelo tanto el capital social como el capital relacional y los procesos innovadores; entendiendo este último elemento como aquel que desempeña un papel fundamental en los procesos de crecimiento económico. La ubicación geográfica del presente estudio es la ciudad de Arequipa, que es la segunda en importancia en Perú después de Lima –la ciudad capital-. Arequipa ha experimentado los últimos años importantes índices de crecimiento económico, sin embargo, en muchos aspectos este hecho no ha significado una mejora en la calidad de vida de las personas. El presente estudio tiene por objetivo general acercarse al estado del capital social, del capital relacional y de la innovación en el distrito de Arequipa. Dentro de los objetivos específicos, y en lo referido a la innovación, se busca conocer el estado de la innovación en las organizaciones del distrito y determinar el estado de desarrollo de ésta. En lo respectivo al segundo tema, se busca caracterizar el estado del capital social y del capital relacional y explorar si existen elementos que sean comunes con el estado de la innovación. La metodología se fundamenta en el análisis cualitativo y a través de entrevistas con ciudadanos en lo referido al capital social y al capital relacional. Se hizo, asimismo, un relevamiento con trabajadores de diversas organizaciones sobre el estado de la innovación. Con esta información se obtuvieron resultados que dan cuenta de la riqueza de las relaciones sociales analizadas...

Developing Civil Society and a New Leadership Class in Iraq: A Comprehensive Analysis and Business Plan

Following De-Ba'athification, forming a new leadership class will be critical to the success of creating a strong civil society in modern-day Iraq. Implementation of youth educational exchange programs, specifically promoting leadership skills, is a significant part of the solution to stimulating a new generation of leaders. Using the reign of Saddam Hussein and his toppling as a frame of reference, a brief history of Iraq's civil society reveals a need for a new leadership class through the lens of democratic transition and consolidation. After exploring the leadership challenges of post-war nation building, the proposed business plan focuses on implementing a youth leadership program in Iraq, employing a wider participation model, and a lengthier, more involved learning model from existing programs.

Sandcastles of hope? Civil society organizations and the working conditions of migrant farmworkers in North America

This research explores whether civil society organizations (CSOs) can contribute to more effectively regulating the working conditions of temporary migrant farmworkers in North America. This dissertation unfolds in five parts. The first part of the dissertation sets out the background context. The context includes the political economy of agriculture and temporary migrant labour more broadly. It also includes the political economy of the legal regulations that govern immigration and work relations. The second part of the research builds an analytical model for studying the operation of CSOs active in working with the migrant farmworker population. The purpose of the analytical framework is to make sense of real-world examples by providing categories for analysis and a means to get at the channels of influence that CSOs utilize to achieve their aims. To this end, the model incorporates the insights from three significant bodies of literature—regulatory studies, labour studies, and economic sociology. The third part of the dissertation suggests some key strategic issues that CSOs should consider when intervening to assist migrant farmworkers, and also proposes a series of hypotheses about how CSOs can participate in the regulatory process. The fourth part probes and extends these hypotheses by empirically investigating the operation of three CSOs that are currently active in assisting migrant farm workers in North America: the Agricultural Workers Alliance (Canada), Global Workers’ Justice Alliance (USA), and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (USA). The fifth and final part draws together lessons from the empirical work and concluded that CSOs can fill gaps left by the waning power of actors, such as trade unions and labour inspectorates, as well as act in ways that these traditional actors can not.

The International Conference Education and Creativity for a Knowledge–based Society – Social and Political Scinces, Communication, Foreign Languages and Public Relations. Vienna, Osterreichish Rumanischer Akademischer Verein, 2012. VIth edition

No abstract.