ABSTRACT
From most of the social capital literature, there shines out a warm glow. Social capital’s ‘dark side’, by contrast, remains largely unknown terrain. Robert Putnam is typically forthright in arguing that, even if there are some risks from negative cooperation, such as the reciprocity found within criminal gangs, creating more social capital will generally ‘be good for us’ (Putnam 2000: 414). Yet if Putnam is unusually explicit, he is certainly not alone. Overwhelmingly, those who use the concept have tended to emphasise the positive outcomes of social capital. Yet it may be that this emphasis is profoundly damaging to a full understanding of social networks and norms as resources. Social capital can enable individuals and groups to achieve a variety of common goals, many of which may be negative in their consequences for others, either directly (as for the victims of organised crime), or indirectly (as illustrated by the roles of informal norms and networks in underpinning institutional discrimination). This chapter therefore explores evidence of social capital’s negative consequences in two respects. First, it explores the possibility that social capital helps reinforce inequality. Second, it considers the part played by social capital in supporting antisocial behaviour.
