“Conceptualizing Communities in Applied
Anthropological Practice using a Social Network
Paradigm: Experiences from Lesotho and South
Africa.”
DAVID TURKON
In Lesotho, as elsewhere, people have been
pushed socially, economically and spiritually,
toward individualism and nuclear family
models.
• Economically: Rational
Man vs Moral Economy.
• Spiritually: Individual
salvation vs ancestral and
kinship responsibilities.
• Socially: Citizens vs
community members.
Day-care. Salang, Mokhotlong
District 1991.
Factionalism in Lesotho is so severe that it is
seen as an obstacle to development, and AIDS
has even been proposed as a possible remedy:
• HIV and AIDS - “the social crisis that may very well help
Basotho to transcend the past as they join hands beyond
partisan lines to defeat this new common enemy” (Kimaryo et
al. 2003:xl–xli).
• Centralization created by technology, transportation and
communication have further blurred boundaries that used to
provide frameworks for community identity and action (Hayland
& Bennett 2005:6-7).
• There has been a shift among social scientist to focus
on how community based groups react to macro
forces (Hayland & Bennett 2005:6-7).
Traditional Healers
Association meeting
(Mokhotlong hospital,
1992)
This academic focus on community based groups has not substantially
influenced the ways that most international NGOs approach “community
level” Interventions.
Care
Family Health International and
World Food Program
Nonetheless, our concepts have
been usurped
• Intervention work is today commonly said to be
“culturally tailored” and administered through
“indigenous institutions” that serve “the community.”
A survey of INGO professionals working in Lesotho identified
multiple problems associated development work, including:
• Programs are poorly targeted, don’t always reach people with
greatest need.
• Programming is fragmented (not coordinated across sectors).
• Within communities participation is spotty.
• Even when people with greatest need are targeted, education
stressing importance of conforming to program standards is
seldom stressed. (Turkon et al. 2009).
Conceptualizing communities
• Much social science research focuses on the
outcomes of individual behaviors, motivations and
other conditions. Behavior, however, does not
happen in isolation. Other people, groups and
organizations influence individual behavior. We are
social beings.
NGOs commonly assume communities exist among
shared living spaces or demographically similar
populations.
But:
• community members do not share the same roles and rights (e.g.
gender, religion, age, ethnicity, kinship, political preferences, class,
etc.).
• Factions coalesce around interests and issues and embody different
resources and degrees and kinds of social capital.
Lesotho Irrigation Porject (LIP)
• Addresses nutrition and livelihood security through reliable food
production in marginal environs.
• Water stored in cisterns is available during drought.
• Conservation agriculture uses little water and provides good yields
on small farms.
Administered through
Catholic Relief Services
LIP selection methods are fairly typical
• Identify “community” (village) with resources needed to meet project
goals.
• Solicited full participation through chief
• Use cultural institutions to appeal to symbolism and motivate
participation (mosobelo – “traditional” helping and sharing).
Participants realized bountiful produce and substantial
income from sale of surpluses
BUT:
• Many villagers did not participate but indicated they would like to.
• Participants did not want new members who would dilute benefits.
Household Urban Garden (HUG)
Selection Methods
• Uneven participation:
– Some did not receive notification of information meetings or chose not
to attend.
– Renters thought of “their village” as being where they possess land.
Almost all non-participating
households expressed
desire to participate.
Chief showing
improvements he
made to a “trench”
or “raised bed”
garden
Does the approach used by CRS exacerbate
problems it seeks to ameliorate?
• To their credit, CRS is concerned about getting selection
right and working to do so.
• CRS is hampered, however, by:
–
–
–
–
Short project cycles.
High staff turnover (three year rotation).
Poor coordination with other NGOs.
Inadequate understandings of culture and community.
Social Network Paradigm: methods for
analyzing structural inequalities by focusing on:
• The interconnectedness of people, institutions and locations.
• The contexts of life (recognizing people rarely act in isolation).
• How people are influenced by groups to which they belong
and with whom they interact and communicate.
(LeCompte & Schensul 2010:73).
Public telephone
provider in rural
Lesotho
Social network analysis can identify,
for example:
• Sources and flows of power, influence and communication.
• Social contexts of people’s lives beyond their individual or
family characteristics.
• Areas within networks where resources might be available.
• Whether individuals are “bound” allegiances or “unbound.”
• Risks through association with a network (e.g. contracting STDs)
(Trotter et al 2012:198-200, 245).
Open vs. Closed Networks
• Boundaries of closed network are delineated socially and
spatially. You can study all members.
• Boundaries of open networks can not be delineated and
you can never study all members.
• Nevertheless, studying open networks gives us
understandings of social forces and dynamics, and of key
individuals or core groups that shape the whole and
influence the individuals within (Trotter et al 2012:199-201).
Social capital is actualized through
social networks
Ego networks are closed networks that consist of a focal node
("ego") and the nodes to whom ego is directly connected ("alters") plus the
ties and the nature of ties.
Which nodes seem most isolated?
Relational Networks
(broad community networks)
• Open networks that link communities through exchanges of
persons, resources and infrastructure.
• Organizations are connected by users, boards of directors,
administrators, outreach workers, etc.
• Individuals are considered in relation to other individuals and
groups. (LeCompte & Schensul 2010:75)
Partners In Health,
Bobote, Lesotho
Bonding and Bridging Networks:
o Bonding – Indicate strong social cohesion between like people
(boundaries may exist around geography, occupation, ethnicity,
culture, class, religion, gender, and so on.
o Bridging – Where social boundaries are crossed to forge
relationships.
Key question: What
conditions produce and
maintain boundaries at the
edges of networks, and can
these “blocks” be “bridged” to
confront common problems or
initiate interventions.
Bridging networks may be used to enhance social
capital by establishing connections with other
people, resources or organizations.
“Connectivity” (patterns of information flow)
can be characterized by measures such as:
• Amount of information that passes through a network.
• Who are “gatekeepers” to information.
• Graphing differential influence in the group (e.g. centralized,
hierarchical or diffuse).
• Probabilities that someone will or will not receive information
introduced into the network.
• Groups at risk (infectious disease, crime victimization, food
insecurity, etc.) (Trotter et al 2012:230-231).
• Social network analysis identifies sodalities as well
as social divisions.
• Ethnographic investigation (qualitative research) can
reveal the nature of sodalities and divisions.
It may be prudent to work with
factions until common foci
around which community
solidarity can be promoted are
ethnographically identified or
verified (Wayland & Crowder,
2002).
Bridging networks to empower agency and mobilize
social capital, promotes sodalities and unleashes
social immunity.
Social Immunity: “Collective resistance against problems” (Mitika 2001)
Members of an
AIDS caregiving
cooperative in
Lesotho
Social Network Paradigm is useful for:
• Identifying group members, patterns of interaction with other
members, networks and organizations.
• Understanding how network membership influences beliefs and
behaviors.
• Understanding how cultural, behavioral and technological
innovations are transmitted through networks.
• Introducing innovations that lead to normative and behavioral
change in individuals, groups and wider communities.
• Correlating with demographic variables to identify “predictors” of
other behaviors or conditions, such as resources, risks, health or
mental status (Trotter II et al 2012).
The social network paradigm is not just
a sophisticated social scientific
method.
It is a rapidly evolving field that provides a
simple way of conceptualizing and thinking
about the cultural and social universes we
engage with.
Applying the Social Network Paradigm to
Longitudinal Survey Research
• Future Impacts Today: Long Term Consequences of Early
Environment (FIT).
• Examines multiple influences on childhood
development from 19 weeks gestation to 20 years old
(biomarkers, education, psychological profiles, family
violence, nutrition, genetic profile, etc.).
Rationale:
• Determine degrees to which participants benefit from social
capital by gauging:
– Degrees to which individuals are connected to support networks through
bonding and bridging networks.
– Are networks open or closed?
– Does each network embody emotional support, material support,
cooperative support, information, etc.
– Does a network provide support, extract support, or both?
Utility:
• This approach will allow us to:
– Explore beyond individual social and psychological characteristics to
establish social contextual elements within which people spend much of
their lives interacting with groups around them.
– Treat these characteristics as variables that describe network
characteristics in ways similar to demographic variables (Trotter et al
2013: 202, 198).
– Add social context to individual or household centered research
instruments.
Methodology I
• Focus groups to determine:
– Types of networks (kinship, cooperatives, religious,
political, clubs and societies, etc.).
– Open vs Closed.
– Bridging vs. bonding.
– Strengths and weaknesses of networks.
Methodology II
• Research Instrument:
– Provide comparative picture of relational ties to correlate
with other outcomes.
– Administered at outset and at benchmarks to determine
changes in network relations and degrees of social capital.
– Determine degree to which social connectedness (social
capital) affects developmental health determined by other
measures.
UFS Interdisciplinary Research Proposal: Future Impact Today
Confirmation of participation by UFS and other collaborators
Researchers/ Groups:
Department
E-mail address
Themes
Signature
Nutrition and Dietetics
walshcm@ufs.ac.za
Biomarkers for growth
Dr L vd Berg (Louise)
vdbergvl@ufs.ac.za
Dietary intake
Me L Janse van Rensburg
JanseVanRensburgL1@ufs.ac.z
Biomarkers related to macro-
(Liska)
a
and micro-nutrients
Health Sciences:
Prof CM Walsh (Corinna)
Mrs M Jordaan (Marizeth)
Anthropometry
Dr L Meko (Lucia)
Prof P Wessels (Paul)
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
CronjeEM@ufs.ac.za
Knowledge and attitudes with
MekoNML@ufs.ac.za
regard to breastfeeding
phwessels@mweb.co.za
Vitamin A, D and iron status in
relation to pregnancy outcome
Fetal growth in relation to
maternal micronutrient status
Pelvic floor dysfunction
Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH)
and
its
association
with
lifestyle habits and medical
conditions
Prof C Viljoen (Chris)
Haematology
and
Cell
viljoenCD@ufs.ac.za
Genetic testing (Hypertension)
and
Cell
bothaGM@ufs.ac.za
Genetic testing (Diabetes)
Biology
Dr GM Marx (Gerda)
Haematology
Biology
Prof SM Meiring (Muriel)
Haematology and Cell Biology
gnhmsmm@ufs.ac.za
Micro-nutrient-deficiency and ADAMTS13
status
Me M Visser (Marieta)
Occupational Therapy
visserMM@ufs.ac.za
Neurodevelopmental trajectories from birth
to 60 months
Dr S van Zyl (Sanet)
Basic Medical Sciences
gnfssvz@ufs.ac.za
Dr L van der Merwe (Lynette)
Links between early adversity and chronic
diseases of lifestyle, impairment of immune
status,
cardiovascular
and
metabolic
function
Dr M Reid (Marianne)
School of Nursing
reidM@ufs.ac.za
Health literacy of pregnant women with
Diabetes
Dr D Botha (Delene)
School of Nursing
bothaDE@ufs.ac.za
Incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in
preterm labour
Dr L Holtzhausen (Louis)
Sport and Exercise Medicine
holtzhausenLJ@ufs.ac.za
Physical activity
Prof Andre Venter (Andre)
Paediatrics and Child Health Care
gnpdav@ufs.ac.za
ADHD
Dr S-J Smith (Sarah-Jane)
SmithSJ@ufs.ac.za
Malnutrition
Dr U Hallbauer (Ute)
HallbUte@ufs.ac.za
HIV and TB; Morbidity and mortality
Postnatal depression
Dr A Groenewoud (Annelise)
GroenewoudA@ufs.ac.za
Dr D Griesel (David)
GriesselDJ@ufs.ac.za
Dr PM van Zyl (Paulina)
Pharmacology
vzylpm@ufs.ac.za
Autistic spectrum disorder
Contribution
of
the
acetaldehyde
production capacity of maternal salivary
microflora and microflora in colostrum to
the acetaldehyde production capacity of
salivary microflora of the neonate
Dr PM van Zyl (Paulina)
Pharmacology
vzylpm@ufs.ac.za
Contribution
production
of
the
acetaldehyde
capacity
of
maternal
salivary microflora and microflora in
colostrum
to
production
the
acetaldehyde
capacity
of
salivary
microflora of the neonate
Other departments/ universities
Dr Z Hattingh (Zorada)
CUT
hattingz@cut.ac.za
Geophagic practices of pregnant and
lactating women
Dr D Himmelgreen (David)
University of South Florida
dhimmelg@usf.edu
Household food security status in
relation
to
food-related
making,
nutritional
decisionstatus
(anthropomentric and dietary), and
mental
health
(physiological
and
and
stress
psychometric
measures)
Dr D Turkon (Dave)
Ithaca
dturkon@ithaca.edu
Participation in social networks and
it’s relation with physical and mental
development of children
Prof L Marais (Lochner)
Centre for Development Support,
UFS
MaraisJGL@ufs.ac.za
Influence of urbanity on health profiles
Illustration of Social Networks through
Facebook
• http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.p
hp?id=3267890192
References
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of American Research Press.
Kimaryo, Scholastica Sylvan, Joseph O. Okpaku, Sr., Anne Githuku-Shongwe and Joseph Feeney (2003) Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity:
Strategies for Scaling Up the National Response to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Lesotho. Maseru, Lesotho: The Expanded Theme Group on
HIV/AIDS c/o United Nations Development Program, United Nations House.
LeCompte, Margaret & Jean Schensul (2010) Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research. Rowman and Littlefield, Altamira
Press.
Mitika, Mike Mathambo (2001) The AIDS Epidemic in Malawi and its Threat to Household Food Security. Human Organization,
60(2):178-188
Trotter II, Robert, Jean Schensul and Margaret Weeks (2012) Conducting Ethnographic Network Studies: Friends, Relatives and
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eds. Rowman and Littlefield, Altamira Press.
Turkon, D., Himmelgreen, D., Rmero-Daza, N. & C. Noble (2009) Anthropological perspectives on the challenges to monitoring and
evaluating HIV and AIDS Programming in Lesotho. African Journal of AIDS Research 2009, 8(4).
Wayland, C. & Crowder, J. (2002) Disparate views of community in primary health care:
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