Definition | Interpretation |
Friendship in sociology | Friendships have been defined at the macrolevel (eg, analyses of composition of friendship networks) and at the microlevel (eg, delineations of the features or characteristics of friendship relationships). Friendship has also been conceptualised in terms of the rules that friends are expected to follow and in terms of the expectations and standards that are held for this kind of relationship. |
Social network | Social relationships that constitute the social network—community organisations and systems through which support is mobilised and delivered. |
Sickness | Society’s cultural and social values attributed to the physical malfunction of the body or patient. More specifically, the values that friends and family attribute to the disease of the patient. |
Care versus support | Care—contribution to one’s physical and/or mental well-being. Support—voluntary incentive to encourage or contribute to the well-being of a patient. |
Support | A personal incentive and private form of encouragement to another person’s well-being. The question whether it is support or not, is located in how the giver and recipient interpret and attribute meaning to support, rather than the objective characteristics attributed to it. |