Lecture 8

Social Network, Social Capital, and Exclusion

Characteristics of our social network (size, density…) influence our access to information, resources, and opportunities available

What is the social network theory?

health

According to social network theory, a person’s social network affects behaviours including _______ behaviours

better

• resources

• control

The richer (larger and denser) your personal network, the ______ your physical and mental health because of:

• Improved access to _______

• Enhanced ______ over your life prospects

norms, enhancing

Social networks discipline members into adhering to ______, beliefs, and values, many of which are potentially health ______

Social support	Social networks
Qualitative nature of interactions	Quantitative nature of interactions (amount)
Depends on emotional support, informational support or material support	Depends on the number of contacts, frequency of contacts, and density of the network

What’s the difference between social support and social networks?

transactional

Social relations are ______ as they involve reciprocity

Mediated relationship	Being well adjusted → positive social relations → better health Being well adjusted → better health
Confounded relationship	Being well adjusted → better health + positive social relations Having positive social relations → being well adjusted
Independent relationship	Being well adjusted → better health Positive social relations → better health

What are the 3 types of relationships/mechanisms explaining social support and health?

1. Participation in community affairs

2. The number of community-based organizations

3. The level of interpersonal trust

4. Crime statistics

What are the 4 components of social cohesion that influence life expectancy and disease incidence?

Other variables, such as income and education, are health determinants that might influence social cohesion and might confound the relationship (social cohesion → better health)

Explain the problem of confounding variables when it comes to social cohesion?

cohesion, structures

→ resources, action

→ psychosocial

Social capital is a subset of social _____ and includes features of social ______ like levels of interpersonal trust, norms of reciprocity, democratic norms, community engagement, and mutual aid

→ These act as _____ for individuals (part of the capital) and facilitate collective ______

→ It’s a ________ argument because

negatively

All-cause mortality is _______ correlated with measures of social capital

• The informational and instrumental supports embedded in an individual’s social network

• Each member is a beneficiary of the capital created by the network

What’s network social capital and how is it different from social capital?

The degree to which an individual is, or perceives to be, connected to their community

→ Subjective

What’s community belonging?

• health

• esteem, control

• resources

Community belonging may influence the likelihood of undertaking behavioural changes through:

• The exposure to _____-related behaviour norms and attitudes in the community

• Psychosocial mechanisms such as self-_____, social status, and social ________

• Access to material and other types of community ______

change

Community belonging is strongly related to community-level capacity for healthy behavioural ______

Putnam’s intra-group solidarity and extra-group hostility	Contact theory
Increased diversity = breakdown of intra-group solidarity	Increased diversity = increases in norms of tolerance and cooperation
Diversity creates a society of atomized individuals with hostility and resentment

What are the differences between Putnam’s intra-group solidarity and extra-group hostility vs. Contact theory

• gaps

• power, social

• life-course, population

Social exclusion and the process of marginalization are:

• Mechanisms through which there are big _____ in health gaps between dominant and racialized groups

• Are health-relevant features that include ______ and the nature of ______ relations

• Can only be understood from a _____-_____ perspective or _______-health perspective

• support

• trust, reciprocity

• networks

• effects

• belonging

5 theoretical perspectives for social support/networks:

• Individual-level psychological → emotional, informational, instrumental _______

• Collective-level psychosocial → levels of ______ and ______

• Interactional effects of ______ on their members

• Collective-level neo-materialist → distributional ______ of networks

• Collective-level psychosocial → sense of _______