Browsing by Subject "Social capital"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    American Muslim Well-Being in the Era of Rising Islamophobia: Mediation Analysis of Muslim American Social Capital and Health
    (2023-04) Miller, Keith Matthew; Kondrat, David; Khaja, Khadija; Fukui, Sadaaki; Latham-Mintus, Kenzie
    This study aims to examine American Muslim well-being and social capital in the face of Islamophobia. Ecological frameworks and social capital theory were synthesized to provide an approach for research, analysis, and social work practice. A mediation analysis was conducted to test the mediating effect of cognitive social capital on the relationship between structural social capital and distress. The paths of structural social capital, cognitive social capital, and distress were conceptualized using the ecological framework of Berkman and colleagues. Special attention was paid to how experiences of Islamophobic discrimination affect cognitive social capital and distress. Structural social capital was operationalized as the number of active memberships in civic organizations; Cognitive social capital was operationalized as trust in major institutions such as schools and the local police and Distress was operationalized using the Kessler Distress Scale. It was hypothesized that an increase in structural social capital would show a decrease in distress with cognitive social capital mediating the path. Results showed that cognitive social capital mediates the relationship between structural social capital and distress. However, an inconsistent mediation was found where an increase in cognitive social capital shows a decrease in distress, but higher levels of structural social capital show an increase in distress. Lastly, the results of the analysis were interpreted to inform current interventions with the American Muslim community through a social work lens.
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    Building Civic Infrastructure Organizations: The Lilly Endowment's Experiment to Grow Community Foundations
    (2019-05) Wang, Xiaoyun; Benjamin, Lehn; Burlingame, Dwight; Guo, Chao; Ottoni-Wilhelm, Mark; Steensland, Brian
    In the past 50 years, we have seen significant public and philanthropic investment in building civil society in countries around the globe. This includes initiating community foundations to support the development of vibrant communities and civic life. Yet we have little knowledge about why some initiatives bear fruit and others fail to do so. More specifically, why some community foundations initiated by institutional funders are able to garner local giving necessary to sustain themselves and others are not. This dissertation contributes to our knowledge about such initiatives by researching the Lilly Endowment’s GIFT Initiative (Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow), a project providing incentives to start nearly 60 new community foundations and revive 17 existing community foundations in Indiana since 1990. I employed mixed methods and three sources of data: historical archives, statistics of community foundations’ financial information and community demographics, and case studies of four community foundations. First, I found two existing explanations offered in the literature did not account for the lack of local support for the community foundations I studied. More specifically, I found that high level of income and wealth does not necessarily lead to high level of giving to community foundations and the lack of community identity is not the primary reason explaining community foundations’ struggles in attracting local donations. Rather the study shows that social capital is crucial for garnering local giving through the mechanism of facilitating information sharing. Second, I examined the long-term effects of matching grants, a key strategy used by Lilly Endowment to leverage local giving. I found that long-term provision of matching grants might reduce organizations’ incentives to seek funding sources on their own. My dissertation lends further insight into the sustainability of civic infrastructure organizations, a popular institutional model for building local civil society even today.
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    Social capital and human capital of nurse managers and registered nurses
    (2017-07-13) Gilbert, Jason Howard; Von Ah, Diane; Boone, Marion E.; Ford, Jeffrey D.; Ebright, Patricia; Chase, Linda K.
    Nurse managers and the teams of registered nurses they lead play a major role in the provision of healthcare outcomes nationally. Nursing leadership models have evolved with contemporary society and have shifted from hierarchical models to those based on interactive relationships. Traditional study of nurse managers and registered nurses has focused on human capital (acquired knowledge, skills, and experience). However, nurse managers and registered nurses must utilize human capital through a network of social relationships or social capital in order to produce positive healthcare outcomes. Little is known about human capital and social capital in nurse managers and registered nurses in the provision of healthcare outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation was to improve our understanding of the importance of human capital and social capital in nurse managers and the nurses. Specific aims included: 1) to explore and describe the concepts of human capital and social capital and to explore if human capital and social capital vary by individual characteristics/human capital attributes (such as education level or years of experience) or by organizational characteristics (such as hospital size or unit type); 2) to examine if human capital and social capital were related; and 3) to explore whether human capital and social capital were related to turnover intent and job satisfaction in a sample of nurse managers and registered nurses. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey of 64 nurse managers and 1139 registered nurses in a 15 hospital healthcare system was conducted. Measures included human capital, social capital, individual characteristics, organizational characteristics, turnover intent, and job satisfaction. The four major findings of this study were: 1) nurse manager human capital is acquired primarily through experience in the role, 2) nurse manager human capital is positively related to social capital, 3) nurse manager and registered nurse social capital varies by individual and organizational characteristics, and 4) social capital is positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intent. This dissertation provides the foundation for further research and targeted interventions for development of human and social capital of nurse managers and registered nurses.
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    The Social Capital Fundraising Model
    (2021-04) Dilworth, Kathryn Frances; Burlingame, Dwight F.; Applegate, Rachel; Badertscher, Katherine; Heyns, Erla P.; Shaker, Genevieve
    In current higher education fundraising models where alumni are aligned with their degree-granting unit, the academic library struggles to match the fundraising outcomes of its campus peers. A survey of seventy-nine fundraisers in academic libraries collected data on fundraising activity. It reveals common practices amongst fundraisers working in this environment and ongoing challenges to success. In a second study, a fundraising model based on social capital is proposed as an alternative to the traditional alumni model. The final study evaluates interviews with thirty-two individuals that further explores the challenges to fundraising success and the efficacy of social capital building as a method to overcome systemic challenges. Interviewees include academic library fundraisers, library deans/directors and university development leaders. Findings reveal a strong interest in a social capital-based approach to fundraising but reveal the necessity to pair the new model with revised fundraiser assessment models capable of measuring these soft skills.
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    Supporting the Development of Grassroots Maternal and Childhood Health Leaders through a Public-Health-Informed Training Program
    (MDPI, 2024-04-09) Latham-Mintus, Kenzie; Ortiz, Brittney; Irby, Ashley; Turman, Jack, Jr.; Sociology, School of Liberal Arts
    The purpose of this research was to assess leadership growth (i.e., changes in personal capacity and social capital) among women living in high-risk infant mortality zip codes who completed a grassroots maternal and childhood health leadership (GMCHL) training program. We used semi-structured qualitative interviews and thematic analysis. Three major themes associated with the training program experience were identified: (1) building personal capacity and becoming community brokers; (2) linking and leveraging through formal organizations; and (3) how individual change becomes community change. Although many of the grassroots leaders were already brokers (i.e., connecting individuals to information/services), they were able to become community brokers by gaining new skills and knowledge about strategies to reduce adverse birth outcomes in their community. In particular, joining and participation in formal organizations aimed at improving community health led to the development of linking or vertical ties (e.g., “people in high places”). The grassroots leaders gained access to people in power, such as policymakers, which enabled leaders to access more resources and opportunities for themselves and their social networks. We outline the building blocks for supporting potential grassroots leaders by enhancing personal capacity and social capital, thus leading to increases in collective efficacy and collective action.