Suchergebnisse

This article provides an analysis of the main features of the personal networks capable of providing social support in Italy. The first part of the paper presents a theoretical and methodological discussion about the potentials and limits of the personal network analysis. In the second part, the author presents the method used in carrying out a survey on personal networks of a sample of the population residing in Italy. Through the use of the name generator, name interpreter, and name interrelator questionnaires, this survey enables to reconstruct the size, the contents, and the form of the personal networks of respondents. The contents analyzed are material resources, social credentials, contacts, and psychological support. The forms are studied through the concepts of structural holes and network closure. Moreover the personal networks are divided into the following social circles: relatives, friends, and acquaintances. The research was conducted on a sample of over 1.200 individuals. In the last part of the article the results of this research are presented and discussed. One of the findings of this research is that Italy is divided into two geographical areas, with respect to the presence of the personal networks of support: the inhabitants of Central and Northern Italy have personal networks much more extensive than the personal networks of the inhabitants of Southern Italy and of Italian Islands.

This paper provides a sociological overview of the concept of social capital and explores how it is related to the notion of health. The theoretical section of the study addresses the issue of an operational definition of social capital and conducts detailed analysis of the dimensions and forms of the concept that stand out in terms of importance in the field of health research. It also takes into consideration the most significant causal mechanisms identified between social capital and health outcomes. The empirical part of the paper features analysis of data on the connection between social capital and self-perceived health, collected during the first survey conducted in Italy by the Osservatorio sulle Strategie di Consumo delle Famiglie (Observatory on Consumption Strategies in the Family). The survey shows that community social capital, generally expressed in terms of family trust, may, depending on the subject's social milieu of origin, not play any role in determining the level of self-perceived health in Italy. Alternatively, it may play either of two roles, acting as a multiplier or a substitute with regard to positive causal processes determined by parameters of a socio-demographic nature.

This paper provides a sociological overview of the concept of social capital and explores how it is related to the notion of health. The theoretical section of the study addresses the issue of an operational definition of social capital and conducts detailed analysis of the dimensions and forms of the concept that stand out in terms of importance in the field of health research. It also takes into consideration the most significant causal mechanisms identified between social capital and health outcomes. The empirical part of the paper features analysis of data on the connection between social capital and self-perceived health, collected during the first survey conducted in Italy by the Osservatorio sulle Strategie di Consumo delle Famiglie (Observatory on Consumption Strategies in the Family). The survey shows that community social capital, generally expressed in terms of family trust, may, depending on the subject's social milieu of origin, not play any role in determining the level of self-perceived health in Italy. Alternatively, it may play either of two roles, acting as a multiplier or a substitute with regard to positive causal processes determined by parameters of a socio-demographic nature.

Despite the pandemic is fortunately only a memory, and we hope it remains so, other clouds have meanwhile been gathering on the horizon of our households: war in Ukraine and resumption of inflation, to name but two. The Household consumption monitoring centre at the Department of Human Sciences at the University of Verona, in this new wave of its national survey on consumption in Italy, must once again come to terms with the general impoverishment and the daily difficulties of families. The group of people struggling to make ends meet has, in fact, widened, and strategies for increasingly careful comparison of both purchases and consumption have become a daily occurrence even for those least affected by economic hardship. In addition to the more usual topics of evolving household purchasing and consumption strategies and economic needs, and that of personal networks of support and consumption – with a focus on the resilience shown in the face of the energy crisis – the research investigates the topic of values and principles of social justice that shape consumption, and that of the pursuit of happiness. Although they daily have to struggle to defend their way of life, people are beginning to hope again.

According to John Rawls, the maximin principle, which aims to maximize the economic well-being of the most disadvantaged, is one of the fundamental principles of social justice. Two surveys conducted in France (PISJ, 2009) and Italy (OSCF, 2022), using scenarios that place respondents behind a relative "veil of ignorance" and representative samples by quotas, demonstrate that this principle is widely preferred over greater equality or an overall increase in wealth. These survey results hold true both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This individual preference for the maximin principle transcends various social divisions and indicates a strong sense of justice among the respondents, as they prefer to live in a society they perceive as fair. However, when it comes to deciding whether it is fairer for the poorest to be more numerous and earn more or for them to be less numerous and earn less, respondents show more uncertainty. The consistent convergence of these results over time confirms their robustness.