My Social Capital and what affects it

The basic principal behind social capital is that investment in social relations will yield expected returns in many different places such as, the community, economy, and politics. Individual people interact and engage in social networking bonds, and trust which creates expected returns which in turn profit the community of those individuals. With all of this social networking going on it helps build a stronger and better community and thus there is more social capital within the community and therefore the community function better. After watching a few videos on social capital it was shown that communities with higher social capital tend to be a more desirable place to live. This is also show because the level of the community’s education and learning is higher, kids are skinnier and more active, there is less poverty, crimes rates tend to be lower, and there is a higher tolerance for gender.

My social capital includes various networks that I am connected to and in some way or another they all affect each other. The networks that I am currently connected to would be school, family, and friends for the most part. With being connected to these networks I feel that I benefit from them, but they also benefit from me as well in some way. There can be positive and negatives with being connected to these networks. I have found that since I have been going to school and working really hard with tests, homework, and studying all the time that it puts a negative outcome on my relationship with my family and friends because I am always busy focusing on school. That is why it is best to find a balance between school and personal time. School might negatively affect my relationship with friends and family, but if my friends and family understand the circumstances I am under. They can act as a positive influence on me by showing support and helping me through the program so I can have a successful outcome.
When I look at my social capital I find that on a personal smaller level that I can appreciate social capital more through my family and friends because they can relate to what I am doing and what is important to me. At the same time on a larger scale there are things out of my control that impact my social capital and might not be noticed or appreciated by me and in turn might contribute to how the community I live in functions and lives.