Awakening social capital.

It is evident that the September 11, 2001, losses and tragedies have awakened investments in people, relationships, civic pride, and community building. The cascading consequences of September 11 will continue to have future effects. One effect is increased attention to social capital as a means to build and sustain communities. Social capital is the currency of relationship exchange in our civil, social, and professional lives. The greater one’s social capital, the richer one’s community. Civic engagement builds and releases social capital. If we want to strengthen “community” among nurses, then we need to awaken and activate the social capital among us. Social capital in nursing depends on nursing social capital. Social capital is invisible in nursing. Making the invisible visible is quite a challenge. Social capital is the stock we place in personal networks and relationships among people. Social capital is the glue that holds people together to facilitate collective action and access resources. Cohen and Prusak define social capital as “the stock of active connections among people; the trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviors that bind members of human networks and communities and make cooperative action possible.” Cohen and Prusak believe social capital is the stuff that makes organizations work. The essence of social capital is civic engagement embedded in a network of reciprocal social relationships. How do we encourage professional civic engagement? Maybe learning more about social capital will help give it voice in professional discourse More information about social capital is available at www.infed.org/biblio/social_capital.htm. Robert Putnam describes two types of social capital, bonding and bridging. Bonding social capital supports identity formation. Bonding social capital breeds solidarity, supports inclusion, and fosters intraprofessional and group loyalty. In contrast, bridging social capital moves beyond bonding of group identity and focuses on linkage of networks of people across various levels of identity, purpose, and missions. Both bonding and bridging social capital support knowledge exchange, network development, effective community relationships, civic engagement, resource acquisition, and mutual goal attainment. Although mostly positive, social capital also has a dark side. It may manifest itself as antisocialism, ethnocentrism, corruption, and elitism. Social capital is found in relationships, networks, communities, and the interaction spaces among people. Prerequisites for the development of social capital are knowledge, access, engagement, and safety. The development of social capital is also supported by money, space, time, and recognition. Conversations build social capital in ways that information sharing does not. Conversations promote trust, mutual understanding, and commitment. Social capital allows people to negotiate problems more easily. Social capital promotes trust and supports development of communities. Social capital also supports the development of empathy, tolerance, and diversity. In addition, social capital promotes diffusion and dissemination of knowledge. Explicit discourse about building and releasing social capital in nursing needs attention. How do we build on and more effectively use the social capital that exists in the profession? Do we consciously create or destroy nursing social capital? How might we inform and educate novices in the profession about the importance of social capital for professional growth and development? What strategies enable effective use of social capital with colleagues in other disciplines? What is the proper ratio of bonding and bridging social capital needed for a preferred nursing future? Social capital is a background signal in nursing organizations. It may be time to bring social capital to the foreground. Social capital discourse may re-energize the practice, teaching, and research communities in which we are invested. Associations, societies, and academies exist because of the social capital networks that they create. Civic engagement activates social capital. Such engagement makes organizations work, builds community, and supports the promise of a preferred future. Next time someone declares, “I get absolutely nothing from ‘X’ organization!” inquire about whether they know what social capital is and how to use it. Awakening social capital is an unintended gift of September 11 that will have future effects.