Elliott, James R2022-10-112022-10-112021-082021-06-03August 202Priest, Anthony Alexander. "Under Pressure: Social Capital and Trust in Government After Natural Disasters." (2021) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113686">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113686</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113686In response to increasing threats from natural disasters, social scientists and disaster managers have conceptualized social capital, the social and physical resources inherent within social relationships, as a fundamental building block for community resilience. However, this line of research often overlooks the complex ways in which different forms of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) can operate during and after a disaster. Although bonding social ties to family, friends, and close neighbors can help households weather a natural disaster, these same connections can also extend a household’s indirect exposure. Utilizing two restricted access data sets gathered in Houston, Texas during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, this study investigates the frequency with which households are exposed to the impacts of disaster not only directly but also indirectly, through their bonding social networks, and how that extended exposure can in turn influence trust in local, state, and federal government – key sources of linking capital during disaster recovery. Results show that households experience indirect impacts pervasively through their close social ties and that these indirect impacts correlate significantly with lower trust in government at all levels, net of direct impacts and other statistical controls. Implications for a more nuanced approach to social capital in disaster research and planning are discussed.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Social CapitalTrustIndirect ImpactsGovernmentThesis2022-10-11