SOCIAL NETWORKS OF TURKISH WOMEN: DIMENSIONS OF RELATIONSHIPS (NURSES).
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 306
Subjects: Sociology, Social Structure and Development.
Description: This exploratory field research study, conducted in Turkish and in Turkey, examined the structural and interactional characteristics of the social networks of 17 young nurses. Emphasis was on discovering how changes in their lives were managed and by whom. Intimate relationships were described as the most important factor in the lives of participants; important changes were described by them in terms of changes in relationships.

Important relationships constituted a network termed a core cell; network members were women and male relatives predominantly. Two-thirds of all network members were women. Important relationships were initiated early and endure despite geographic dispersion. Ties are multiplex, multigenerational for relatives, homogeneous in most other ways, and nurtured by a series of reciprocal exchanges. Networks are small and extremely dense.

Ties between women were consistently stronger than those with men, assessed by amount of time spent together, emotional intensity, mutual confiding, and the degree of reciprocity in transactions. As relationships are disrupted, ties become weaker but never disappear. This study differentiated between two types of weak ties; those which were formerly strong characterized by intense but negative emotion, and weak ties distinguished by neutral emotional content. The disruptions described by participants were traumatic and precipitated by behaviors perceived as intolerable.

Findings suggest that participants who describe different types of relationships as most important have differential needs for the kinds of support particular relationships provide. Those who perceived most options available to them had less strong feelings about tradition and less inclination to accept the obligatory nature of societal norms. These individuals were most open to change.

Findings suggest basic assumptions about the role of the nurse and the importance of the uniqueness of individuals need to be reassessed for non-Western cultures. Interpersonal relationships outside the networks were confined to ritual exchanges and task performance. Employment was tangential to these women. The dual nature of the social worlds of women and men and the nature of the relationships which are central to their lives insulates them from strangers and change.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-05, Section: A, page: 1417.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1984.

School code: 0034.