The Influence of the Social Network's `Second-Order Zone' on Social Support Mobilization: A Case Example

Abstract

Although social support researchers have long acknowledged the utility of social network analysis, few have shown the scope of analysis that is most useful to understanding how our social ties `buffer' us from adversity and `channel' us to other resources in times of trouble or transition. For the most part, researchers have limited their analyses to what Barnes (1969) and Mitchell (1969) call the `primary zone' (the links among and between the support receiver and those persons directly linked to him or her). In this article, it is suggested that expanding analysis to the network's `second-order zone' (the primary zone plus the ties between persons tied directly to support providers, but not to the receiver) enhances understanding of social support outcomes. To explore this thesis, the article examines social support and social network data from a field study of social support mobilization among low-income African-American women household heads in Chicago. I first attempt to explain observed social support outcomes by reference to primary zone variables (density and percentage of ties of `high' versus `low' intensity). These are found to be only partially successful. Next, second-order zone variables are added to the analysis. This improves our ability to explain outcomes. It is suggested future social support analysis should encompass the second-order zone.

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