Final report - Integrated Land Management Bureau

The literature on social networks specific to First Nations is generally quite weak. Most
of the research on social capital is on European-based systems. In those systems, social
networks refer to formal membership (joining groups) or informal networks (‘number of
people you know inside and outside the community’ and the strengths of those
relationships). Pickering et al. (2006) studied social capital in Native American
communities and suggested that social capital is a community-specific phenomenon and
must, therefore, be studied at the local level.
Pickering et al. found that Native American respondents were more likely to be involved
in informal organizations based on social relationships, than formal memberships. For
Oglala Lakota respondents for one study, for example, community was not a geographic
concept but rather a kinship concept that embraced extended family members living in
distant geographic communities. Different native communities answered differently on
interview questions designed to measure social capital such as “How many people in your
community would help in a water emergency?” and “Do you feel you have a sense of
responsibility with people in need,” and whether a respondent felt excluded or left out
from their community, and respondent’s connections outside of their community. This
demonstrates that how social capital is defined varies from community to community and
suggests that monitoring of social capital should be tailored to the types of social capital
present in a given community.
Implications for Schedule C and G: For measurement across the plan areas, two
primary social process indicators (generalized trust and commitment to place) can be
measured in the communities using the primary data collection methods outlined in
Section 8.1. Matthews et al (2004) found that generalized trust can be used as an
acceptable proxy for social capital and they developed and tested a scale for generalized
trust. The scale includes a compilation of results of four statements that survey
respondents can be asked to respond to which are then given an index score. This index
score can be compiled and compared across time and geography. These questions
include:
-Most people can be trusted
-Most people in this community can be trusted
-Young people in this community can be trusted
-Most people in this community are [not] likely to take advantage of you if they get the
chance.
Thus, the compiled index score can serve as the indicator of social capital in the North
and Central Coast.
Using the results from the Matthews et al study on commitment to place, one survey
question can be used to assess people’s sense of place: level of agreement to the
statement, “I would move away from this community if a good job came up somewhere
else.”
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