El Lado Obscuro: The Dark Side of Social Capital in Aging Mexican-American Heroin-Using Men

Background and Purpose. Social capital, the sum of actual or potential resources individuals have at their disposal via social networks,1,2,3 has traditionally been conceptualized as encompassing only socially acceptable elements. However, social capital can exist in either pro-social or deviant forms, and either can significantly impact health, mental health, and substance use outcomes. Positive social capital (e.g., education, stable communities, strong family networks, and financial stability) has been widely studied. Less is known about the “darker side” of social capital, or elements of socially deviant lifestyles that can be construed as capital. Deviant social networks maintain a higher sense of “street” education, stable communities where network members “watch each others' backs”, strong family ties (e.g., gang associations), and financial stability (e.g., money from criminal activities). Researchers have found that gangs offer a medium for individual members to acquire concrete and subtle resources not otherwise accessible to them.4 For some individuals with limited access to “legitimate capital” illicit activities are an attractive option.4 Given the growth of the Hispanic population, assessing social capital and its relationship to health outcomes in Hispanics can be a critical component in our efforts to eliminate prevailing health disparities. Our study examined social capital in a sample of aging Mexican-American men as part of a broader study on health consequences of long-term injection heroin use.

Methods. Through field-intensive outreach, we recruited 227 Mexican-American men ages 45 and older with a history of injection drug use for at least three years and who were either current injectors, former injectors not in treatment, or former injectors enrolled in Methadone Treatment. Respondents were interviewed with a semi-structured instrument that included a social capital scale and collected demographic data and detailed information on substance use trajectory, family history, mental health, treatment history, and comprehensive medical and sexual histories.

Results. A between-groups ANOVA shows current users (n=77) have the highest level of social capital as measured by the scale (M=70.12, SD=12.36), followed by former users (n=75, M=68.64, SD=10.26); former users in Methadone Treatment had the lowest level of social capital (n=76, M=60.65, SD=11.14) (F (2, 224) = 15.331, p < .001). Furthermore, post-hoc comparisons show the differences between current users and methadone clients and between former users and methadone clients to be statistically significant (p < .001).

Conclusions. Data suggests that those who maintain stable drug using relationships and connections in the drug-using community are provided with a negative but strong social capital when compared to methadone clients who may be in a transition phase. That is, methadone clients might be literally “between groups” (the drug using and the drug free) but do not belong to either, resulting in less social capital. Current users maintain their drug using resources, connections, and associations, while former users have established positive social capital relationships. A better understanding of the relationship between social capital and social deviance (i.e., substance use) can aid in addressing health and mental health concerns within these communities.