I am currently analyzing data on the homeless and residents of high poverty ghettoes to assess the role of social capital in mediating stressful circumstances. A critical issue yet to be answered in the literature is the nature of social capital as an asset among the very poor. Some of my earlier work questioned the efficacy of social affiliation in mediating the stressful and risky circumstances of high poverty and homelessness.
I am now examining a broader range of social capital resources among the homeless in hopes of better understanding these resources' ability to mediate and moderate the devastating conditions presented by contextual and personal poverty.
