This new social isolation/social capital literature has many possible ramifications, and the key is all in the explanation -- the worst (and least complex) being, as someone once remarked, that poor people just better get better at pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps.
On 6/24/06, Ira Glazer <ira at yanua.com> wrote:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/etc5l
>
> By Amanda Beck
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are more socially isolated than they
> were 20 years ago, separated by work, commuting and the single life,
> researchers reported on Friday.
>
> Nearly a quarter of people surveyed said they had "zero" close friends
> with whom to discuss personal matters. More than 50 percent named two or
> fewer confidants, most often immediate family members, the researchers
> said.
>
> "This is a big social change, and it indicates something that's not good
> for our society," said Duke University Professor Lynn Smith-Lovin, lead
> author on the study to be published in the American Sociological Review.
>
> Smith-Lovin's group used data from a national survey of 1,500 American
> adults that has been ongoing since 1972.
>
> She said it indicated people had a surprising drop in the number of
> close friends since 1985. At that time, Americans most commonly said
> they had three close friends whom they had known for a long time, saw
> often, and with whom they shared a number of interests.
>
> They were almost as likely to name four or five friends, and the
> relationships often sprang from their neighborhoods or communities.
>
> Ties to a close network of friends create a social safety net that is
> good for society, and for the individual. Research has linked social
> support and civic participation to a longer life, Smith-Lovin said.
>
> People were not asked why they had fewer intimate ties, but Smith-Lovin
> said that part of the cause could be that Americans are working more,
> marrying later, having fewer children, and commuting longer distances.
>
> The data also show the social isolation trend mirrors other class
> divides: Non-whites and people with less education tend to have smaller
> social networks than white Americans and the highly educated.
>
> That means that in daily life, personal emergencies and national
> disasters like Hurricane Katrina, those with the fewest resources also
> have the fewest personal friends to call for advice and assistance.
>
> "It's one thing to know someone and exchange e-mails with them. It's
> another thing to say, 'Will you give me a ride out of town with all of
> my possessions and pets? And can I stay with you for a couple or three
> months?" Smith-Lovin said.
>
> "Worrying about social isolation is not a matter of nostalgia for a warm
> and cuddly past. Real things are strongly connected with that," added
> Harvard University Public Policy Professor Robert Putnam, author of
> "Bowling Alone," a book on the decline of American community.
>
> He suggested flexible work schedules would allow Americans to tend both
> personal and professional lives.
>
>
>
>
> *
>
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