Social capital, health and electronic community in public high-rise estates: An Australian case-study
Liza Hopkins
Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC
PP: 169 - 178
Abstract
The four years from 2001 to 2005 saw the roll out of an innovative social enterprise on one of Melbourne's high rise public housing estates, Atherton Gardens. It provided residents with access to personal computers, computer training, an intranet, internet and email, as well as establishing a training room, open access computer lab, repairs workshop and a help desk service for computer users.
This paper reports on a three year research project which was undertaken to assess the impact of this initiative and to analyse its effects, not only on residents' access to and use of new forms of information and communication technologies, but also the less tangible effects of an electronic network on health, social capital and community well-being.
Keywords
sociology, electronic networks, social capital, health, well-being, community capacity
References
Adler N, Boyce W, Chesney M, Folkman S and Syme L (1993) Socioeconomic inequalities in health Journal of the American Medical Association 269: 3140-3145.
Baum F, Palmer C, Modra C, Murray C and Bush R (2000) ‘Families, social capital and health' in Winter I (ed) Social Capital and Public Policy in Australia, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies 250-275.
Bryson L and Mowbray M (2005) ‘More spray on solution: Community, social capital and evidence based policy, Australian Journal of Social Issues 40(1): 91-106.
Cohen S and Syme L (1985) Social Support and Health Orlando FL. Academic Press.
Drentea P and Moren-Cross J (2005) Social capital and social support on the web: The case of an internet mother site, Sociology of Health and Illness 27 (7): 920-943
Galston D (1999) ‘Does the Internet strengthen community?', Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy Accessed at http://www.puaf.umd.edu/IPPP/fall1999/internet_community.htm in January 2006.
Grzywacz J, Almeida D, Neupert S and Ettner S (2004) Socioeconomic status and health: A micro-level analysis of exposure and vulnerability to daily stressors, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 45(1): 1-16.
House J, Kessler R, Herzog A, Mero R, Kinney A and Breslow M (1990) Age, socioeconomic status and health, Milbank Quarterly 68: 383-411.
House JS, Landis KR and Umberson D (2001) Social relationships and health in Conrad P (ed) The Sociology of Health and Illness: Critical Perspectives, New York Worth Publishers.
Howard P Rainie L and Jones S (2001) Days and nights on the Internet: The impact of a diffusing technology, American Behavioral Scientist 45(3): 383-404.
Kawachi I (1999) Social capital and community effects on population and individual health Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 896: 120-130.
Kraut R, Patterson M, Lundmark V, Kiesler S, Mukopadhyay T and Scherlis W (1998) Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist 53 (9): 1017-1031.
Latkin C and Curry A (2003) Stressful neighbourhoods and depression: A prospective study of the impact of neighbourhood disorder Journal of Health and Social Behavior 44 (1): 34-44.
Mulatu M and Schooler C (2002) Causal connections between socio-economic status and health: Reciprocal effects and mediating mechanisms, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 43(1): 22-41.
Nie N and Erbring L (2000) Internet and society: A preliminary report, Stanford Institute for the Study of Society Accessed at http://www.stanford.edu/group/siqss/Press_Release/Preliminary_Report-4-21.pdf in October 2001.
Pew Internet and American Life (2000) Tracking online life: How women use the internet to cultivate relationships with family and friends, Accessed at http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=11 in August 2001.
Putnam R (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, New York: Simon & Schuster.
Reid C and Herbert C (2005) Welfare moms and welfare bums': Revisiting poverty as a social determinant of health Health Sociology Review 14 (2): 161-173
Reidpath D Chan K, Gifford S and Allotey P (2005) ‘He hath the French pox': Stigma, social value and social exclusion, Sociology of Health and Illness 27 (4): 468-489
Ross C (2000) Neighborhood disadvantage and adult depression, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 41(2): 177-187.
Stolzenberg R (2000) It's about time and gender: Spousal employment and health, American Journal of Sociology 107: 61-102.
Whitley R and Prince M (2005) Are inner-cities bad for your health? Comparisons of residents' and third parties' perceptions of the urban neighbourhood of Gospel Oaks, London, Sociology of Health and Illness 27(1): 44-67.
Winter I (2000) Major themes and debates in the social capital literature: The Australian connection in Winter I (ed) Social Capital and Public Policy in Australia, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 17-42.
eContent Home
