Social support networks for mothers who raise intellectually disabled children

Background
A social network is a group of people with whom a given person – the central person in the network – maintains contact. Social support networks for families raising an intellectually disabled child offer significant advantages for the functioning of family members: from providing help in performing everyday tasks, to sharing information, and offering emotional support.

Material and methods
The aim of the paper is to analyse the structure of social networks and the types and sources of support received by mothers raising intellectually disabled children. The study was based on quantitative methods. Bizoń’s Questionnaire of Social Surroundings (Kwestionariusz Otoczenia Społecznego) and a categorised interview were used. Each interview lasted about 2 hours. Fifteen mothers who raise intellectually disabled children have participated in the interviews.

Results
The social support networks of the mothers were usually comprised of more than 10 people. Close relatives and more distant family members act as the most important elements of social support networks for mothers who raise intellectually disabled children.

Conclusions
A multifaceted and complete spectrum of support was found in the mothers who participated in this study. The fact that the support systems are very centralised is alarming – if the main person leaves, the entire network of support might collapse.