Is Blood Thicker Than Water?
As we discuss social networks and their evolution in class, there is a certain population we must draw our attention to whose networks do not behave in the same ways as most of ours. The prison population undergoes wildly different experiences than the rest of us who are able to freely make connections with others. Contact to the outside world is very limited for prisoners, especially electronic communication. These conditions may cause tension and affect prisoners’ ability to sustain social relationships.
Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement conducted a study in which they compiled data from 702 prisoners about their social network ties. Specifically, the researchers focused on inmates’ “core discussion networks,” which they describe as consisting of people “with whom one usually discusses important personal matters” (Volker et al., 2016). For our purposes, the relationships within core discussion networks can be thought of as similar to strong ties.
As shown in the figure below, the prisoners reported to have a total of 1,295 core discussion relationships prior to imprisonment. After being released from prison, only 509 (39%) of strong ties remained stable. Of the 786 (61%) of strong ties that were lost, 386 of them were still in contact with the prisoners, but their relationship had characteristics more similar to that of a weak tie. The remaining 400 ties were either lost altogether or the researchers had no information.
Although the prisoners lost many of their strong ties, their overall number of strong ties did not shrink after being released from prison. Instead, these strong ties were replaced. The researchers state, “It seems that detainees are more likely to lose their friendships and to fall back on family ties after their release from prison” (Volker et al., 2016).
What does this information suggest about the nature of strong ties? Are family ties inherently stronger than friendship ties? This study may interpreted as evidence to support the well-established saying that blood is thicker than water. It may be possible that friends are more likely to feel embarrassment or shame for associating with a criminal. Perhaps incarceration is life-altering in such a way that prisoners are no longer capable of maintaining their old ties. If one thing is for certain, it is that we must not take our family ties for granted.
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378873315300459#fig0005