Extending Families
The Social Networks of Parents and their Children

How do personal networks evolve and what roles do they play for parents, and for the development of children?

Moncrieff Cochran (Author), Mary Larner (Author), David Riley (Author), Lars Gunnarsson (Author), Charles R. Henderson, Jr (Author)

9780521445863, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 March 1993

468 pages
22.6 x 15.1 x 2.3 cm, 0.615 kg

"Extending Families is a monumental example of the best in social network research....[T]he book is impressive in the care and detail of the presentation....[E]ssential reading for any teacher or researcher interested in the mother-child relationship, the social world of the single-parent family, the influences of culture and SES on patterns of social relatedness, extra-familial influences on child development, or the methodoological detail necessary to chart the factors that form the structures of social networks....[S]tands as a sterling example of careful, scholarly research and is destined to become a new classic in the field of social network research." Steven R. Daugherty, Contemporary Psychology

How do personal networks evolve and what roles do they play for parents, and for the development of children? Can these ties with relatives, neighbours, and friends provide stability for family members during periods of disruption caused by divorce, unemployment, geographic dislocation or serious illness? How do networks change over time? To what extent are network members interchangeable; can unrelated friends take the place of close relatives? These are among the questions addressed in Extending Families, a ground-breaking study about how personal networks evolve, and what roles they play for parents and for the development of children. The volume is an outgrowth of a ten-year cooperative research effort carried out by the authors as part of the Comparative Ecology of Human Development Project at Cornell University. In this comprehensive and integrated volume, Moncrieff Cochran and his colleagues document and compare the roles network members play in the lives of African-American and Caucasian parents in the United States, and parents in Sweden, Wales and West Germany.

Foreword U. Bronfenbrenner
Preface
Part I. Ideas and Themes: 1. Personal networks in the ecology of human development M. Cochran
Part II. Settings, Methods and Illustrations: 2. Settings and methods D. Riley et al
3. The social networks interview L. Gunnarsson
4. Descriptive illustrations M. Cochran and C. R. Henderson, Jr
Part III. The Influences of Race, Class and Culture: 5. Social networks, race and ethnicity W. E. Cross, Jr
6. The social networks of married mothers in four cultures M. Cochran et al
7. The social support networks of single parents: Sweden and the United States M. Cochran and L. Gunnarsson
Part IV. Impacts on Perceptions and Performance: 8. Network influences upon perception of the child: solo parenting and social support M. Cochran and C. R. Henderson, Jr
9. Network influences on father involvement in childrearing D. Riley
10. The social networks of six-year-olds: context, content and consequence M. Cochran and D. Riley
Part V. Changes in Networks Over Time: 11. Changes in network resources and relationships over time M. Larner
12. Local residential mobility and its effects on social networks: a cross-cultural comparison M. Larner
13. Formal supports and informal social ties: a case study M. Cochran and C. R. Henderson, Jr
Part VI. Social Networks and Human Development: 14. The network as an environment for human development M. Cochran
15. Environmental factors constraining network development M. Cochran
16. Factors influencing personal social initiative M. Cochran
17. Personal networks and public policy M. Cochran
Appendix 1. The social network interviews
Endnotes
References.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]