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In Each
Other’s Shadow
What has been the impact of human and social capital on life satisfaction
in Ireland?
Thomas
Healy
A Thesis submitted in fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy at the National
University of Ireland
Supervisors: Professor Colm Harmon and Professor Stephen Mennell
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Human Sciences, University College
Dublin
February 2005
Abstract
This study is about the nature of human well-being and agency. It
considers and contrasts various notions of well-being and relates
them to various types of human capability, including human capital
and social capital. Part A develops a conceptual framework that
integrates various notions of well-being and capital under the concept
of human capabilities – the capacity to live the good life
as valued by the human agent. A number of tensions and unresolved
conflicts are identified with respect to the use and understanding
of well-being. The evidence relating to those factors that impact
on well-being in the specific cultural context of Ireland will be
considered in Part B drawing on one
particular cross-sectional data source – the NESF Survey of
Social Capital (2002). The analysis of data suggests that some empirical
measures of informal social ties and reciprocity are highly associated
with subjective well-being. The impacts of marital status, income
and unemployment, described in the literature on well-being, are
also confirmed in this analysis. However, caution is needed in drawing
any general conclusions with respect to ‘social capital’
and its impact on human well-being more generally. In Part C, I
explore the relevance of both the conceptual framework (Part A)
and the supporting empirical research (Part B) for different areas
of practice – personal development, families, organisational
change and governmental action. In conclusion, I outline a number
of challenges for the development of social dialogue around norms
and public interests as well as research grounded in community experience
to support well-being.
Information
on the author
Tom Healy is Research Associate at the Policy Institute, Trinity
College Dublin and member of the ‘Governance Research Group’
at the Geary Institute, UCD. Research interests refer to the impacts
of informal learning, social networks and civic norms on personal
well-being and their relevance to public policy and community practice.
Contact details
Dr Tom Healy
Senior Statistician
Statistics Section,
Department of Education and Science,
Marlborough Street, Dublin 1,
Ireland
Phone + 353 1 889 6588
Email: tom_healy@education.gov.ie
or healyt@tcd.ie
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In Each
Other's Shadow (Pdf file, 1.68
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Additional information
This thesis is listed also in sections Sociology
and English.
Related works
• Healy, Tom with Dr Maria Slowey of DCU 'Social exclusion
and adult engagement
in lifelong learning - some comparative implications for European
states based
on Ireland's Celtic Tiger experience' - forthcoming.
• Healy, Tom, 'Social Capital: An educational panacea or a
challenge to the way
we do policy?' forthcoming in the European Educational Research
Journal.
• Healy, Tom, ‘The Level and Distribution of Social
Capital in Ireland’ forthcoming in the Journal of the Statistical
and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland.
• Healy, Tom, ‘Social Capital and Well-Being in Ireland’
presented at the Annual Conference of Religious in Ireland Conference
on Social Policy, 4 October 2005 and published, by CORI, in ‘Securing
Fairness and well-being in a land of plenty’.
• Healy, Tom, ‘Re-thinking Public Policy: The Role of
Social Capital’ in Perspectives on Community Development in
Ireland, Cross-Border Centre for Community Development, Volume 1,
No. 1, 2005.
• Healy, Tom, PASCAL International Observatory Learning Regions,
Social Capital and Place (May 2005 ‘Hot Topic’ article)
‘Social
Capital and Educational Policy: Serious Issues from an Imaginary
Conversation with a Minister’ – this paper posed
the deceptively simple question: if social capital is such a good
idea, what can be done to build it? A number of differing approaches
on the relevance of social capital to public policy are discussed.
The relationship between theory and practice is evaluated. Also
published by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
(NIACE / UK) in ‘Rebalancing the social and economic: Learning,
partnership and place’ edited by Chris Duke, Mike Osborne
and Bruce Wilson (2005).
• Healy, Tom, ‘Social Capital: Hold Hat or New Insight?’
in the Irish Journal of Sociology, Volume 13, No. 1, 2004.
• Healy, Tom, ‘Social Capital: Some policy and research
implications in New Zealand’, Institute of Policy Studies,
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. (2004)
• Healy, Tom, ‘The
Measurement of Social Capital at International Level’.
Paper presented at an International Conference on the measurement
of social capital organised by OECD and the UK Office of National
Statistics in London on 25-27 September, 2002.
• Healy, Tom, The
Policy Implications of Social Capital, National Economic and Social
Forum, Dublin, Report No. 28. (2003)
• Healy, Tom, ‘From Human to Social Capital’ in
T. Schuller, D. Istance and H. Scheutze (eds.) Towards the Learning
Society, Open University Press (2002)
• Healy, Tom, ’Social Capital and Lifelong Learning’
in Lifelong Learning in Europe, (LlinE, Vol. VI, 2002).
• Healy, Tom, ‘In Each Other’s Shadow’,
in Is the Future My Responsibility?, Céifin Institute, Veritas,
2002, Dublin.
• Healy, Tom with Sylvain Cote: The Well-Being of Nations:
The role of human and
social capital, OECD, (2001).
• Healy, Tom with David Istance 'International Equity Indicators
in Education
and Learning: Some Recent Results and Avenues for the Future' (with
D. Istance)
in In Pursuit of Equity in Education: Using International Indicators
to Compare
Equity Policies, (eds. Hutmacher, Cochrane and Bottani), Klewer.
(2001).
• Healy, Tom, ‘New Patterns of Learning and Earnings’
(with A. Wagner and T. Smith), European Journal of Education, vol.
35, Number 1, March (2000).
• Healy, Tom with Alan Wagner and Thomas Smith 'The impact
of human capital on
economic growth', Economics of Education and New Public Management.
(2001)
• Healy, Tom, ‘Cost-benefit Analysis in Education Projects:
Internal Rates of Return, Methodologies and Theoretical Objections’
in The Appraisal of Investments in Educational Facilities, OECD
and European Investment Bank. (2000).
• Healy, Tom, Human Capital Investment: An International Comparison,
OECD. (1998).
‘Lifelong Learning for all: International experience and comparison’,
Lifelong Learning in Europe (LlinE, vol. III, 1997).
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