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Abstract
The transformative potential of relationships between helping professionals and clients is well recognised. Less often have these relationships been explicitly considered as building blocks of social capital. This article reports a qualitative analysis of the views of a group of 80 parents about the nature of helpful helping relationships. The analysis asked: What are the features of the relationships between service users and service providers that indicate the presence of linking social capital? What are the implications for policy, practice and research? Data indicated that a number of parents experienced helpful relationships provided by a range of professionals. These relationships constituted a mechanism whereby people could access resources otherwise unavailable to them. These relationships can be understood as “linking social capital”—trusting relationships with people in formal institutions. Program constraints, organisational, and community cultures can affect these relationships and the linking social capital developed.
专业施助人员与客户之间关系具有转变的潜力，这点很多人都认识到了。但不大有人明确地将这样的关系看作社会资本。本报告对一组80位家长有关何为有效施助的看法做了定性分析。作者试问：服务的使用方和提供方之间的关系都有哪些特征说明社会资本的存在？这对政策、实践以及研究意味着什么？数据显示，一些家长体会到与各种专业人士结成的关系之有益。这种有益的关系构成了一种机制，让人们得到以其他方式得不到的资源。这种关系可以理解为“联通的社会资本”——与正式机构的人员建立信任关系。计划的限制、机构和社区的文化都可能影响这类关系及其营造的联通社会资本。
Acknowledgements
The research on which this paper is based was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. We are grateful to the participants in this research who shared their experiences. We are grateful also to our colleagues at the Institute of Child Protection Studies for their contributions to the original research and comments on this paper.
Notes
1 Numbers and letters are used as interview codes to distinguish different participants. Identifying details have been removed or altered.