Vision

The members of Nordic Research on Social Networks (Norsnet) will strive to be instrumental in creating a network capable of continued innovations and progress within both basic and applied social network research. The activities described here spring from a sincerely felt need, interest and relevance for social network research in health care and social work and in related areas such as health and welfare within education and organisation studies. The Norsnet vision is that these activities will not only continue, but also develop and diversify.

Focus

A person’s social network is the sum of those human relationships that have a significant effect on his or her life. These relationships can be the source of social influence and emotional support as well as instrumental resources. The mobilization a person’s social network can facilitate learning, crisis management, problem solving, coping, daily functioning and increased access to community services. Social network interventions have been shown to increase coping among patients with chronic disabilities, reduce mortality among populations at risk, hasten rehabilitation, increase mental health, facilitate bereavement processes, reduce criminality, prevent social isolation, increase self-reported health, better children’s development, increase well-being, reduce the incidence and prevalence of psychoses and increase patient completion rates for substance abuse programs. Yet many questions regarding the dynamics of effective versus non-effective network support remain unanswered and there is a continuing need for more detailed studies.

Research in this field was in part spawned by Speck and Attneave's development of social network therapy during the 1970’s. Researchers and clinicians in the Nordic countries during the past twenty years established Scandinavia as an international center of expertise for social network interventions. Nordic workers in the fields of psychiatry, addiction treatment, special education, rehabilitation and social work have applied a variety of network approaches. Preliminary research findings point to the efficacy and efficiency of these interventions. There is, however, a need for an intensified Nordic cooperation in research, research training, method development and clinical training.

Current Status of Nordic Reseach

The field of psychosocial intervention research has been neglected due in part to the complexities involved in prospective, multi-site studies and the design demands inherent to psychosocial intervention research. Indeed, even general Nordic research related to health and social services and methods has only recently gained recognition (e.g. The Nordic Comparative Study on Sectorized Psychiatry, Nordic Research Project on Family Group Conference from a child perspective), and much of it is still fragmented and uncoordinated.

A number of social network projects are already established or recently initiated, including Västeråsprojektet (Sweden), Fallskärmsprojektet (Sweden), Felles Utvikling (Norway), Valdresprosjektet (Norway), Western Lappland project (Finland), Nordkalottprosjektet (Finland/Norway/ Sweden/Russia), and Åbne samtaler i Odsherred (Denmark).

At present the level of formal research training concerning social network interventions is quite rudimentary. The partial networks already in existence have, however, generated an increasing amount of research activity and there are a growing number of doctoral and post-doctoral students doing work on social network interventions. Norsnet will enhance the training opportunities for these students, giving them eased access to the combined expertise of the network members.

The majority of the network participants are well established scholars with years of experience applying social network interventions within a variety of contexts and situations. They reflect the rich interdisciplinarity one hopes to achieve in the network with persons representing the fields of psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, general and geriatric medicine, nursing, clinical social work, anthropology, sociology and cultural geography. A number of participants are also involved in parallel networks including members from the Baltic countries and Russia, and their participation in Norsnet will be actively pursued.

Activities

Work being carried out by Scandinavian clinicians and researchers within the field of social network interventions is now considered state-of-the-art and yet there is a real need to coordinate the research endeavours and consolidate their findings. Norsnet activities are dependent on access to external financial support, but optimally they could include the following:

1.) Research training course

The course will be interdisciplinary and will cover the theoretical and methodological foundations of social network research. The venue of the course will circulate between the Nordic countries. All attempts will be made to involve doctoral students from NW Russia and the Baltic countries.

2.) Two-day workshop

The workshop, for junior and senior researchers and PhD students, will cover a selected specialized topic within social network research.

3.) Biannual Nordic Conference for Social Network Research

The proposed conferences will be arranged complimentary to and on alternate years as the Nordic Conference for Social Network Therapy, which has been arranged five times previously by individual members of this proposed network.

4.) Research projects

The network will work towards furthering established research projects and initiating new Nordic and European research projects. Included in this work are efforts towards involving additional research groups, and especially increasing the number of research students.

5.) Researcher mobility

The network will promote the mobility of junior and senior researchers as well as PhD students. Separate funding will be applied for in order to finance these activities.

6.) Writing endeavors

The network will facilitate the production of joint publications.

7.) Website

The network will create and administer a comprehensive website for all its activities, to be hosted by the Department of health and social work, Gjøvik University College. A primary goal of the website will be to make accessible relevant data and research findings, through the development of a resource bank and data base on social network research. A mailing list discussion forum will also be established to further discussions and debates in the field.

8.) Symposium

The network will organize an annual symposium. The symposium will involve network members and will have a five-fold focus; 1) to address ongoing theoretical, methodological and conceptual debates within the field, 2) to evaluate the previous Nordic Conference for Social Network Research and to plan for the following Nordic Conference, 3) to evaluate and plan research training courses, 4) to evaluate and plan workshops and 5) to organize writing processes for joint publications.