Social Capital and Urban Crime

Social capital is often hailed as the solution to many of the problems present in America today, but Neal's work indicates that this belief may be misplaced. The literature suggests that the levels of social capital in a community affect the way members of the community interact with one another and may also impact the level of crime. To examine this connection, Neal examines levels crime in U.S. cities over several years along with the levels of social capital. She finds that there is strong evidence of a correlation between social capital and crime; however it appears that a decrease in crime tends to precede increases in social capital rather than the other way around.