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