Mitchell centre seminar series
| Dates: | 27 March 2019 |
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| Times: | 16:00 - 17:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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Andreas Herz, University of Hildesheim, Germany
Gil Viry, University of Edinburgh
Spatiality and reciprocity in family networks: A multilevel analysis
The geographical dispersion of families raises concerns that family bonds have weakened. Physically distant family members would be less able or willing to exchange (some types of) support and care than those living nearby. Among the conceptual dimensions of the strength of family ties, the amount of contact and the emotional intensity are often studied. Reciprocity, which has been conceived as a force of social integration and solidarity that binds families together, has not yet received sufficient attention. Reciprocity in family relationships has largely been studied through specific dyads, such as intergenerational support to old parents, overlooking possible contextual effects of the family as a unit. Both the utilitarian and normative approaches of reciprocity emphasise that family contexts characterised by social cohesion and mutual trust enhance participation in reciprocal exchanges. In a network approach, this study aims to address these knowledge gaps by investigating how reciprocity in emotional support, material support, influence and conflict varies across families and their spatiality. Using multi-level modelling and data on the ego-centred networks of 754 adults living in Switzerland (including the ISSP 2012 and 2013 modules), we analyse the extent to which reciprocity depends on the spatial characteristics of the respondents (e.g. migration background, residential environment), their family ties (e.g. physical distance) and family networks (e.g. their geographical dispersion).
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