Examining the capacity of a sport for development programme to create social capital

Adams, A.; Harris, K.; Lindsey, I.

Abstract

Robert Putnam’s conceptualization of social capital has been commonly associated with, and used to analyse, sport-for-development programmes. This paper bucks this trend and uses James Coleman’s rational strain of social capital to examine the use of sport as a component part of a programme to support male adults in addressing connected problems of substance misuse, homelessness and other forms of social exclusion. Using a qualitative research strategy, in-depth and longitudinal data were collected using individual interviews and focus groups with programme participants and key stakeholders over a three-year period. The results suggest the importance of unintentionality for the formation and use value of social capital; indicating that social capital created through this programme was individual, contingent on interactional context and benefited individuals in line with Coleman’s six aspects of social capital.

Citation

Adams, A., Harris, K., & Lindsey, I. (2018). Examining the capacity of a sport for development programme to create social capital. Sport in Society, 21(3), 558-573. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2017.1346627

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 9, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jul 6, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 4, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 9, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 6, 2019
• Journal: Sport in Society
• Print ISSN: 1743-0437
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-0445
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 558-573
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2017.1346627
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1385343