Weak and Strong Ties Whether

Mothers Made Close Friends,

Acquaintances, or Something Else
(Small 2005)
Report by Antonio
Concepcion
Relationships can be distinguished
between weak and strong ties
• Strong ties
• bonding, brings emotional/social support.
• non-domain specific
• Affective
• high expectations/strong obligations

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• Weak Ties
• bridging, brings new information.
• Instrumental
• domain specific: interaction is limited to a certain domain.
• Expectations are limited
• Different ties come with different benefits

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Characterizing the center

"center mothers developed nothing less than a small, family-

like community, an all-around source of support with deep
obligations, mutual confidence, and emotional intensity."

– However, not all strong ties were the same.

– Standard intimates vs Compartmental intimates

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What are Standard Intimates?
Katherine
• sharply dressed, white redhead, late 30s,
• Wanted to be more involved in the center to get closer to daughter.
• Developed strong ties with another family in the center
• Interactions did not depend on the center
• Shared many concerns with each other
• Relationship was unrestrained; interaction and conversation.
• Benefits: source of social support (marriage, raising children, career, spirituality)

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● Given the mothers' busy schedules, this might
not be the most practical option.
– What was needed was practical (like a weak tie)
but with the benefits of a strong tie (support)

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What are Compartmental Intimates?
● It is a relationship that is considered as intimate because of
the types of conversations shared, but it is limited to a
domain.
● Interactios and conversations are intimate but domain-
specific.
● In the case of compartmental intimates formed in the center,
intimacy was limited to the center-related concerns.

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● Character of Conversations
– Blanche, a Full time student in Nursing program: "'The only thing we have in common is
the children,' she explained, “so we used to talk about the children, children, children.
Some time we ask about [other things] but most of the time it’s about the children"

● Character of Interactions
– Brittany in describing her close friends: "I mean it’s all kind of kid oriented now, that we . . .
speak on the phone, or email, actually make a plan, have a meal, go play together like you
know go to the park together that kind of thing. . . . A lot of shared parenting."

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● ties were easier to maintain
● No extra effort necessary
● Still provided emotional support and favors.

Who benefited from these?

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Serena: "When Daniella needs backup, she needs to go to something at night, I
take her daughter [to my] home. I feed her dinner. We play. I give her a bath.
Daniella comes and picks her up later. She would do the same for me. . . ."

Naomi, "an extroverted, loquacious, and hyperorganized workaholic" says: "I

have an informal arrangement with one of the other mommies [Tessie] for
swapping child care duties so everyone gets a Saturday night date once in a
while. So she’ll take my daughter with her little boy for a few hours on Saturday
and then I’ll take her kid and, at night so the kids get an all-day play date."

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How were strong ties of this kind
possible?
● Strong ties require time and effort; high
maintenance
● The organization performed the maintenance
work.
● Individuals regularly saw each other in the center.

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