Social capital in carceral settings: expert insights to measurement and definition

Social capital has been found to be correlated with significant positive outcomes, but faces issues in competing conceptual and operational definitions. Further, social capital has yet to be studied in carceral settings as a result of the incompatibility with existing measurement approaches in environments defined by a regulated social structure. This study explores how criminal justice and social capital scholars conceptualize and operationalize social capital in carceral settings. Drawing on qualitative interviews with scholars in criminal justice and related fields, this research identifies key themes around the definition, measurement, and ethical considerations of studying social capital in carceral spaces. Results illustrate varying definitions and measurement strategies utilized by scholars, while acknowledging the challenges of applying traditional social capital frameworks to carceral environments. These findings suggest a need for a more context-specific, robust definition and measurement framework. While further research is necessary, these findings give the foundation for further scholarly work into the development of social capital research in carceral spaces.