Abstract (eng)
There is growing interest on social networks as sources of social capital, especially in organisational settings. Attention has been payed to how individuals gain information about employment opportunities through their weak ties or how useful strong ties are in terms of emotional support. Less is known about the social network approach in context of family sociology. Exploring the work of the essential social capital theorists this study seeks to explore the social networks of children living in shared residence.
Based on interviews with children and analysed via the qualitative content analysis following Mayring (2008) the results show that the social networks consist of strong and weak ties. This different types of relations provide different ressources. The shared physical custody enables a social network which is mostly solid. This fact doesn´t mean that the networks are closed, rather parts of it, like for example the weak ties, could be described as very dynamic. Aspects, like the housing area and the family type, influence the composition of the members and the types of social capital which is provided. So the author arrives at the conclusion, that in the analysed networks the accessability of social capital rises, but that doesn´t mean, that also the use of this ressources increases.