社会网络对健康行为的影响

个人社会网络对健康的积极作用已得到诸多研究的验证。研究认为,社会网络能推动人们的健康行为,从而提升健康水平,但这一影响机制尚需经验研究的支持。本研究利用一项大规模社会调查数据,检验了社会网络对“母乳喂养”这一健康行为的影响机制。研究结果发现,新生儿母亲社会网络中强关系比例越高,越可能在新生儿成长的早期为母亲提供实际的帮助和社会支持,从而提高母亲提供母乳喂养的可能性;她们的社会网络中如果有医务人员,能更有效地传递相关知识和信息,也可提高母乳喂养的可能。因此,社会网络主要通过提供社会支持与信息来促进健康行为,从而提高健康水平。     

Gender,children, and family planning networks in Kenya

This study examines how having young children (those aged less than 18 years) in the households influences the patterns of social interaction between men and women. The study reveals that women's social networks are influenced more than men's by having more young children. Most women are recognizing that having many young children is not only an economic but also a social burden. As such, a large young family forces women to seek instrumental, informational, and emotional support from their friends, thus enlarging their social networks, increasing the intensity of their interactions, and diversifying the composition of their social networks.     

Women under protection – in hiding from violent men

In Sweden in 2007, 11,047 people, out of a population of around nine million were living under at-risk conditions requiring protective measures for their safety. Sixty per cent were women, most of them hiding from men who had battered them and were still threatening and stalking them. In this research and intervention study, a group of women in hiding were given different kinds of support and 23 women were interviewed. These women struggle to make a living, work or study, and their finances are extremely strained. Their social networks/interactions are nonexistent. Living under constant threat and insecurity has an adverse impact on the women's health. The community is obliged, for economic and security reasons, to support battered women. There are still severe shortcomings with regard to security. One recommendation is the institution of personal protection officers, i.e. specially trained social service caseworkers able to support the woman once protection measures have been decided.     

Mothering after child removal: Living under the rule of Greek gods

Many women who experience mental illness are mothers. Evidence suggests that the role of mother is of great importance and value to these women, yet they are more likely than other women to have their children removed from their care. Little is known about the experiences of these mothers after their children are removed. This paper presents a phenomenological analysis of in‐depth interviews with 8 women to answer the following question: How do mothers living with severe mental illness experience mothering after removal of their children by child protection services? The analysis showed that mothering continued to be a major life role for these women, but the way they enacted this role was transformed. Their mothering was now constrained and prescribed by external agents, likened to Greek gods, which imposed both boundaries to what they could do and an obligation to prove themselves worthy. Like Greek gods, these external agents were seen as all powerful, unpredictable, and flawed. The study highlights the need for child protection services and support services to recognize and support noncustodial mothering activities.     

Women under protection – in hiding from violent men

In Sweden in 2007, 11,047 people, out of a population of around nine million were living under at-risk conditions requiring protective measures for their safety. Sixty per cent were women, most of them hiding from men who had battered them and were still threatening and stalking them. In this research and intervention study, a group of women in hiding were given different kinds of support and 23 women were interviewed. These women struggle to make a living, work or study, and their finances are extremely strained. Their social networks/interactions are nonexistent. Living under constant threat and insecurity has an adverse impact on the women's health. The community is obliged, for economic and security reasons, to support battered women. There are still severe shortcomings with regard to security. One recommendation is the institution of personal protection officers, i.e. specially trained social service caseworkers able to support the woman once protection measures have been decided.     

Lone Motherhood: the Impact on Living Standards of Leaving a Violent Relationship

This paper presents findings from doctoral research which looked at the social support of women leaving domestic violence. In this paper the focus is on one aspect of that study: the living standards of women who have left a violent relationship. An exploratory, area-based study using in-depth interviews and participant observation with twenty white working-class women examinedthis issue. This exploratory study makes visible the links between violence and living standards. Debts incurred during the violent relationship when women had little if any control over finances, rent arrears incurred as a result of leaving, when women were temporarily housed in a refuge or hostel, and increased housing, travel and communication costs all contributed to the women'sexperience of poverty. If findings of previous research are correct, that between 20 and 40 per cent of lone parents (overwhelmingly mothers) experienced domestic violence in their previous relation-ship, then more extensive research in this area is indicated.     

Kin Financial Support: Receipt and Provision Among Unmarried Mothers

ABSTRACT

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,039), we investigate how social resources influence unmarried mothers' provision and receipt of financial support within their social networks and whether patterns of financial support vary by race and ethnicity. Multinomial regression results indicate that relative to neither giving nor receiving, more advantaged mothers have higher odds of providing others with financial help, yet less advantaged mothers do not have consistently higher odds of receiving help. Tests for interactions indicate that financial support may be less available for Blacks in need than for other groups. Our findings provide evidence that because of its unpredictable nature and unequal availability among disadvantaged groups, informal financial support cannot be expected to fill gaps in the public safety net.     

Mothering and everyday life during and in the aftermath of domestic violence among women with immigrant backgrounds in Norway

This paper focuses on how immigrant women experience and negotiate their everyday life with children prior to and after leaving a violent partner. Twenty‐three women staying at domestic violence and abuse shelters with their children were interviewed about their experiences with assistance services and their everyday life with their children. At the time of the interviews, most of the women were legally separated or divorced and were either living in or in touch daily with shelters. In this paper, we look at some of the challenges that women face when exposed to violence in a relationship that involves children. Being exposed to violence from a partner raises a number of economic, practical, and emotional concerns, both prior to and after leaving. For the mothers in our study, maintaining a regular routine is key to making the children feel safe in an unpredictable setting. For many, economic dependence on the partner is replaced with economic dependence on assistance services after leaving the partner. Services must recognize that providing help to mothers who have left a violent partner constitutes more than just practical support but is crucial for mothers' ability to re‐establish a predictable everyday life with their children.     

What do we know about the social networks of single parents who do not use supportive services?

The role that social support and social networks play in mediating isolation and stress experienced by vulnerable families is well established. However, a major issue facing supportive human services is to find and engage families with limited social networks and link them to supports that could improve outcomes for their families. This paper reports on the results of in‐depth interviews with 20 sole parents with children aged under 5 who were not well connected to services. It documents their social networks with the use of a social network map. Using a social capital lens, the analysis attempts to differentiate the different relationships in the participants' lives. Most participants were not satisfied with their informal networks, with conflicted or ambivalent reliance on family, absence of support and community engagement and fragility of informal networks. Although this group of isolated mothers does encounter the formal service system, the opportunities to increase and strengthen their networks do not eventuate. Better understanding of the nature and extent of social networks can inform practitioners and policy‐makers of the critical factors needed to increase service use for parents with limited resources.     

Changes in characteristics of ego-centred networks of female immigrants married to Korean men

This study explores the relationships between social support and social networks of female immigrants married to South Korean men, using two-year data on migrant wives from the Gyeonggi Welfare Panel and an ego-centred network approach. The results suggest that a larger network with less cohesive ties provides more diverse social support for migrant wives. Migrant wives gradually reduce dependence on their family-in-laws and play roles of support givers for those with the same nationality by sharing their experiences in South Korea. The ego-centred network analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of the social networks of married migrant women in South Korea.     

农民工小团体现象的探测与分析：基于社会支持网络的研究

本文利用2005年对深圳市农民工的调查数据,应用N G算法,探测到农民工社会支持网络中的小团体现象,并通过对其数目、规模及内聚程度的分析,探讨了亲缘、地缘关系在小团体现象中的角色问题。本研究发现,农民工社会支持网络具有明显的小团体现象,不同性别和不同职业构成的农民工社会支持网的团体化程度存在差异,实际支持网、情感支持网和社交支持网等三类网络的团体化程度也存在差异。混合性别网络的小团体的内聚程度低于单一性别网络的小团体的内聚程度,加工业农民工小团体的内聚力差异程度较大,而建筑业农民工小团体的内聚程度则普遍较高。加工业农民工的业缘关系是小团体形成的重要纽带,建筑业农民工的小团体以地缘关系为主,但业缘关系的作用开始凸显。     

Conditions for migrant mothers' socioeconomic disadvantages in Hong Kong

The present study utilizes both survey and interview data to examine the socioeconomic disadvantages in terms of limited social support, poverty, and non-employment in migrant mothers in Hong Kong, China. It seeks to understand the disadvantages from a social distance perspective, which holds that social distance hinders access to employment, and social and formal support. This article surveyed 837 mothers living in two impoverished communities. A subsample of 72 migrant mothers participated in follow-up in-depth interviews. Findings indicate the socioeconomic disadvantages and reveal some local conditions for the disadvantages. Specifically, the norms of childcare and self-reliance, social stigmatization of welfare recipients, and remote residential community come to shape migrant mothers' experiences of caring for young children. These findings provide implications to social work practitioners for targeting migrant mothers to reduce their social distance from local community resources.     

Substance‐dependent women becoming mothers: breaking the cycle of adverse childhood experiences

Parenting may be particularly challenging for substance‐dependent mothers who have grown up with parents who themselves had substance use disorders (SUDs). The aim of this study was to explore how substance‐dependent mothers describe their childhood experiences with substance‐abusing parents and the association between these earlier experiences and their own role as caregivers. Using purposeful sampling, mothers admitted for 1 year to a family ward at a substance abuse clinic were approached. Through in‐depth, qualitative interviews, nine substance‐dependent mothers described their lives in the form of present, past and future tense. The findings indicate that substance‐dependent women, who have experienced SUDs in their families of origin, face several major challenges when they become mothers. Some describe having lived their whole lives ‘on the edge of society'. This makes their rehabilitation process more complex. All mothers work to abstain from substances, process traumatic experiences and integrate their family into society. They need help to build supportive social networks and to establish a safe and predictable family environment for themselves and their children. The therapeutic implications of these findings will be discussed.     

Acculturation and Korean-American Children's Social and Play Behavior

This study examined how acculturation styles are related to Korean immigrant mothers' parenting and play attitudes and their young children's social and play behavior. 108 Korean-American and 52 European-American mothers completed the Parents as Teacher Inventory and a play questionnaire. Observers recorded children's social and play behavior during free play activities in their preschool, and teachers rated their social behavior. Korean-American mothers completed an acculturation measure. Results showed Korean-American mothers who had an 'assimilated' acculturation style, were more accepting and encouraging of children's creativity and play, and reported more parent-child play in the home than mothers with an integrated, marginal, or separated acculturation styles. Children of assimilated and integrated mothers engaged in more frequent pretend play and were rated by their teachers as being more difficult. The results suggest there are distinct cultures of family life and childhood that manifest themselves as Korean immigrant families individually adapt to life in the U.S. The findings support the importance of examining cultural differences that exist between people whose ancestry can be traced to the same nationality.     

Vocational rehabilitation of sole mothers who receive income support benefit

This evaluative research is intended to follow up an experimental project, conducted in Israel, which aims to encourage sole mothers to work and to cease receiving public support, and to take upon themselves the responsibility of earning a living, by providing them with vocational training. To this end, an experimental group of 400 divorced and single mothers was randomly sampled from four local branches of the National Insurance Institute in the centre of the country and was invited to participate in vocational training. The research goal was to evaluate the sole mothers'willingness to participate in the training and the effect of their acquiring a vocation on their actual going to work and, as a consequence, ceasing to receive income support benefit. It was found that immediately following the vocational training, there was a significantly higher percentage of women from the experimental group who worked (63 per cent) than that from the control group (37 per cent). No significant difference was found in the percentage of women who were working two years later. Accordingly no significant difference was found in the percentage of women from both groups who continued to receive income support benefit at this time     

The Social Ecology of Early Childhood: Preschool Social Support Networks and Social Acceptance

The focus of this study was on the social networks of preschool children and on the interface between network characteristics and the child's acceptance by peers and teachers. Fifty-six children and their mothers were interviewed about the child's social support network. Social acceptance measures included peer sociometric ratings and teacher ratings of child preference and relationship quality. Frequency of contact with mother-nominated child network members was a determining factors in the concordance of mother and child reports. From the child's perspective, social acceptance was related to the presence and supportiveness of siblings and extended kin. Mother reports were less predictive, with only one significant association between parental support and teacher preference. In general, the children's perceptions regarding the structure and function of their social networks were found to be reliable and to relate meaningfully to social acceptance in the preschool domain.     

No-one else could understand': Women's Experiences of a Support Group run by and for Mothers of Sexually Abused Children

Summary Previous studies have shown that when a woman finds out aboutthe sexual abuse of her children the consequences for her areserious and can represent a major life crisis. Women in thisposition frequently report a lack of professional understandingand support. The current study explores the experiences of women attendinga busy peer support group at the NSPCC in York. It demonstratesthe vital role that peer support can play. It traces a varietyof factors which mean that family, friends and social workersare not well placed to help. At the heart of these difficultiesare the powerful feelings of guilt and failure in their roleas mothers which the women experienced as a result of the sexualabuse of their children. For these women it was impossible toshare with social workers their doubts about their own abilitiesas mothers, particularly in a context in which those workerswere making judgements about their ‘ability to protect’.On the other hand the support group provided a safe and non-judgementalforum in which these powerful emotions could be expressed anddealt with. The study explores the role that social workerscan play in relation to such groups.     

幸福感城乡差异的元分析

对国内涉及幸福感城乡差异的18项调查研究进行元分析,结果发现,城镇人幸福感比农村人幸福感高,且可以从社会比较和社会适应两方面进行解释。这一结果排除了发表偏倚,具有稳定性。国内对这一问题之所以存在争论,主要是因调查工具的不同造成的,即工具质量越高,越容易得出城镇人幸福感高的结论。     

Factors Related to Social Competence in Elementary School Among Children of Adolescent Mothers

This study examined factors related to social competence in first grade among children of low‐income, adolescent mothers. The sample included 83 mother–child dyads who had participated in a family support program for adolescent mothers. Characteristics of the child, mother, and the child's living context were examined for their relationship to children's social skills and problem behaviors. Several factors had significant bivariate relationships with social competence. Children with higher social skills and lower levels of problem behaviors were more likely to have received higher quality parenting, to have higher academic skills, and to live in neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. Children with higher social skills were less likely to have changed schools. In a path analysis, only academic skills were significantly related to either measure of social competence when other factors were controlled. Quality of parenting was indirectly related to social competence, and the effect was mediated by academic skills. School transience was also related to academic skills in the path analysis.     

Predictors of Stability and Change in Private Safety Nets of Unmarried Mothers

ABSTRACT

Although the importance of social supports for single mothers in times of crisis is widely recognized, little is known about the stability of such “private safety nets” over time, as children age and maternal and household characteristics change. This study uses multilevel models and four waves of data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study to describe trajectories of social support perceptions for 3,065 unmarried mothers. Results suggest that following a birth, most unmarried mothers perceived the availability of support, but these support perceptions disintegrated somewhat in subsequent years. Mothers who appeared to have the greatest need for support—those without stable employment or a stable partner—experienced more rapid deterioration of their perceived safety nets than did more advantaged mothers. Future research should examine network composition and conditions for support provision among the most vulnerable single mothers and should consider how safety-net stability influences maternal and child health and well-being.