Postgraduate Researchers in Science Medicine Conference 2005: Abstracts
Social Capital and Family Life Amongst Chronically Ill Men
Mr. John Griffiths and Dr. Judith Sixsmith
The concept of social capital has received much attention recently in the social sciences, and has been linked with health outcomes (e.g. Sundquist et al, 2004). The debate around such work draws attention to the ways that social relatedness is an important source of health and well-being (Edmonson, 2003). Much empirical research in this field has focussed on public spheres of life and participation (Edwards, 2004), and taken a ‘gender-blind’ approach (Sixsmith et al, 2001) to social capital using survey questionnaires. This qualitative paper focuses on family lives of chronically ill men and explores the complex processes that link gendered sociality with illness experience.
15 chronically ill men participated in ‘life story’ interviews. Their narratives were analysed thematically. A number of themes linking family-related social capital with illness experience resulted.
Illness often undermined men’s ability to construct a valued masculine identity within family contexts. Family members appeared as a source of health enhancing social capital and as a source of obligations that men struggled to cope with. Family social capital often worked to overcome some of the obstacles that ‘doing masculinity’ placed in the way of optimal illness management. The active role of children in caring relationships was also highlighted as an important source of health and well-being.
John Griffiths, Psychology and Speech Pathology, Manchester Metropolitan University, 37 Bollin Drive, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 3RR
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