Within public health, achieving social justice has been identified as fundamental to eliminating health disparities. Noted earlier in this session, public health nursing has been less explicit in its commitment to principles of social justice than has public health as a diverse field representing a variety of disciplines. A major tenet of social justice is that, unless collective burdens are accepted, powerful forces in the environment or social structure will maintain or exacerbate inequities. Social justice, then, occurs at the aggregate, societal, or community level. Public health nursing has a strong history of practicing in the community, with its research and scholarly endeavors advocating empowerment strategies for improving the health of disadvantaged communities. The concept of building social capital has recently appeared in the public health and nursing literature, and has been enthusiastically adopted in popular political circles as yet another method for ameliorating socioeconomic and health disparities. While social capital shares characteristics of an empowerment approach, it has been implied that building social capital leads to a more socially-just society. Although the emergence of social capital into the public health and nursing literature has been largely uncritical, there is a need to consider its less appealing consequences that may negatively impact health. This session reviews social capital in relation to social justice, and cautions against an indiscriminate adoption of it for building healthy communities through public health nursing practice, research, and scholarship.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the learner will be able to: 1. Describe the concept of social capital in relation to the roles of a community 2. Discuss the strengths as well as the potential negative consequences of social capital-building strategies
Keywords: Public Health Nursing, Social Justice
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.