Nurturing social capital in local communities

Authors

  • Sally Denley A registered social worker with Presbyterian Support Upper South Island. Former coordinator and developer of the SAGE programme. Currently a full-time social worker working with families.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol21iss1id317

Keywords:

social capital, community social work, social work practice, social connection, SAGE programme, mentoring,

Abstract

This article describes how Presbyterian Support Upper South Island is providing services that nurture social capital in community settings in North Canterbury.

One such service within the ‘SAGE’ programme is described. The SAGE programme is a family mentoring service which matches older volunteers with families and is a service that is considered to be responsive and flexible. The interconnected multi-layered approaches within this service nurtures the bridging between individual, family and community environments in a preventative way. The resulting improvements in social connection are small but important steps in strengthening the fabric of local community development and in creating a better sense of belonging for all involved.

References

Beddoe, E., & Maidment, J. (2009). Mapping knowledge of social work practice. Melbourne: Cengage Learning.

Blackshaw, T., & Long, J. (2005). What’s the big idea? A central exploration of the concept of social capital and its incorporation into leisure policy discourse. Leisure Studies, 24(3), 239-258.

Blakely, R., & Suggate, D. (1999). Public policy development. In D. Robinson (Ed). Social policy development. Wellington:Institute of Policy Studies.

Bryson, L., & Mowbray, M. (2005). More spray on solution: Community, social capital and evidence based policy. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 40(1).

Cheyne, C., O’Brien, M., & Belgrave, M. (1997). Social policy in Aotearoa: A critical introduction. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Das, R.J. (2006). Putting social capital in its place. Retrieved 22 June 2009, from http://www.cseweb.org.uk/issue.shtml?x=545303

Denley, S. (2007). SAGES research evaluation. Unpublished internal report for Presbyterian Support Upper South Island, Christchurch.

Elliot, B. (2000). Promoting family change: The optimism factor. Australia: Allen and Unwin.

Healey, T. (2005). Social capital: Some policy and research implications. Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies.

Michaux, A. (2003). Moving from our place to your space: Rethinking early intervention with children and families. Sydney. Originally presented at ‘The people place partnerships conference’.

Milligan, S. (2007). Youth anger and violence in New Zealand - Service and policy implications and possibilities. Sixth Australian and New Zealand Youth Health Conference: Research into practice, evidence into policy. Retrieved 8 February 2008 from http://events.lincoln.ac.nz/youth/programme% 202007%20v5.pdf

Milligan, S., & Jillings, M. (2006). Reinvesting in the social nucleus: Mairehau needs analysis. Christchurch: Presbyterian Support Upper South Island.

Ministry of Social Development. (2004). Research confirms diversity of New Zealand families. Retrieved 20 July 2007, from www.msd.govt.nz/media-information/press-releases/2004-12-01.html

Ministry of Social Development. (2006). Local Services Mapping (LSM) Report for the Waimakariri District. Wellington: Author.

Robinson, D. (1997). Social capital and policy development. Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies.

Sander, T.H., & Lowney, K. (2006). Social capital building toolkit. Version 1-2. Saguaro Seminar. Civic Engagement in America, John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Retrieved 23 June 2009, from http://

www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/pdfs/skbuildingtoolkitversion1.2.pdf

Waimakariri District Council (2006). Waimakariri District Council Needs Analysis. Waimakariri: Author. Retrieved 8 September 2009, from http://www.waimakariri.govt.nz/publications/Research%20and%20Monitoring%20Reports/index.htm.

Whatsup. (N.D). Our service. Retrieved 8 February 2007 from www.whatsup.co.nz/about us/ourservices.html

Woodend Profile. (2007). Retrieved 6 June 2007 from http://www.waimakariri.govt.nz/community/groups/woodend-files/dds-02-07@woodendPopulationProfileforWoodendGrowthStrategy.pdf

Downloads

Published

2017-07-17

How to Cite

Denley, S. (2017). Nurturing social capital in local communities. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 21(1), 32–38. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol21iss1id317

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2009)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2017 Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

By completing the online submission process, you confirm you accept this agreement. The following is the entire agreement between you and the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) and it may be modified only in writing.

You and any co-authors

If you are completing this agreement on behalf of co-authors, you confirm that you are acting on their behalf with their knowledge.

First publication

By submitting the work you are:

  1. granting the ANZASW the right of first publication of this work;
  2. confirming that the work is original; and
  3. confirming that the work has not been published in any other form.

Once published, you are free to use the final, accepted version in any way, as outlined below under Copyright.

Copyright

You assign copyright in the final, accepted version of your article to the ANZASW. You and any co-authors of the article retain the right to be identified as authors of the work.

The ANZASW will publish the final, accepted manuscript under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence allows anyone – including you – to share, copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make commercial use of the work without needing additional permission, provided appropriate attribution is made to the original author or source.

A human-readable summary of the licence is available from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, which includes a link to the full licence text.

Under this licence you can use the final, published version of the article freely – such as depositing a copy in your institutional research repository, uploading a copy to your profile on an academic networking site or including it in a different publication, such as a collection of articles on a topic or in conference proceedings – provided that original publication in Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work is acknowledged.

This agreement has no effect on any pre-publication versions or elements, which remain entirely yours, and to which we claim no right.

Reviewers hold copyright in their own comments and should not be further copied in any way without their permission.

The copyright of others

If your article includes the copyright material of others (e.g. graphs, diagrams etc.), you confirm that your use either:

  1. falls within the limits of fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review or fair use; OR
  2. that you have gained permission from the rights holder for publication in an open access journal.