How Family and Other Close Ties Shape Vulnerability Processes

Abstract

While close relations include both intimate family members and close friends, the transmission of socioeconomic resource remains largely confined within families. Moreover, family-transmitted values and sociopsychological skills are incorporated during childhood, and emotional and instrumental support is still mainly assumed by family members. These overlapping exchanges mean that family ties constitute durable resource for individuals, but that families are (also) damaging in case of tie dissolution, poor relational quality or gendered family practices. In this chapter, we examine how family and friends affect vulnerability processes differently by using three longitudinal datasets on long-term couples, lone parents, and ageing individuals, as well cross-sectional data on adults’ personal networks, collected with support from LIVES. We found that ambivalent and sometimes negative (i.e., resource depletion) aspects of family relationships emerge, in particular, in situations in which other key resources (including friendship ties) are missing, typically with the occurrence of stressful life events. Conversely, negative family events are more quickly overcome when sufficient resources (including friends) are available. Interestingly, some negative life events, such as job loss, are better dealt with through sparser personal networks. By contrast, normative life events act as densifiers or enlargers of both elective and family networks.