Chapter 10

Relationships across the life course: early childhood, adolescence, middle and older adulthood

Relationships and support across systems: Peers, family, community

Types of capital: 1) economic, 2) cultural, 3) social, 4) symbolic

Increase in single status: Majority of single adults are between the ages of 35–64

Costs and benefits of social relationships must be viewed from context in which they are embedded

Social workers should work to understand the “conversion” capabilities of clients—their ability to transform social exchanges into socio-economic advantages

Infant–caregiver attachment classifications:

1) Secure 2) Ambivalent 3) Avoidant 4) Disorganized

Longitudinal studies show secure attachment in early childhood is associated with academic success in later school years

Early Childhood: Family is the primary socializing agent; school is secondary socializing agent

Non cognitive skills (e.g., emotional, social, behavioral) are related to academic achievement

Teacher relationships can help develop children’s non cognitive skills in educational settings

Adolescence: Peers become important socializing agent

Research shows that adolescents who have serious health conditions may face vulnerability in developing peer support and social capital networks

Extracurricular activities can boost support for students who are struggling with other life course transitions (e.g., off-timing high school transitioning)

Emerging Adulthood: Romantic partner relationships become increasingly important

Parental support is one of the most important predictors of success in attaining adult outcomes such as housing, education, employment

Both bonding and bridging social capital are important for workforce connection and advancement

Middle and Older Adulthood: Longitudinal studies show quality of friend and family relationships are significantly related to well-being

Actual and perceived support are both important in assessing social networks

As functional limitations increase with age, instrumental support becomes increasingly important to older adults

Nicholas Christakis studies social network patterns on health

His research points to the importance of structural positioning (where one is located in the network—central or peripheral) on health behavior

Three-degree rule: your behavior will be influenced by your friends, your friends friends, and your friends’ friends friends

Informal family caregiving can create significant strain on family relationships, with particular groups often needing extra support, such as parents caring for adult children with special needs; or adults caring for parents and children or parents, children, and a spouse simultaneously

Assistive technologies are being developed to help older adults age in place and ease family caregiving burden

Demographic changes show an increasingly delayed adulthood with more adult children returning to their parents’ home

Higher education and SES tend to be associated with increased social network diversity and size, but not with network density or closeness

Some prominent theorists suggest communities will flourish and be measured by the amount of human capital that composes their citizenry, and the human capital/talent they can attract

Both young adults and older adults in their “encore years” often look for meaningful ways to give back to and serve their communities.

Four types of capital: 1) economic 2) social 3) cultural 4) symbolic

Identity economics: exploring how capital gains and losses lead to community membership engagement and identity construction, and ultimately power is gained or lost

Early attachment experiences serve as a template for adult relationships

Interpersonal experiences shape brain development throughout our lives

Quality of the relationships and one’s positioning in a social network matter as much as size of the network

Peers, family, and community all play important parts in our social network and our ability to convert social exchanges into socioeconomic advantage