Kin and Nonkin under Collective Threat: Israeli Networks during the Gulf War

Abstract

This study presents a rare glimpse of haw people use their social networks during a mortal threat. In surveys done around the time of the 1991 Gulf War, we asked residents of metropolitan Haifa, Israel, to tell us from whom they received support during the missile attacks. The results show that Israelis relied more on kin than they did in their everyday networks. However, how much they relied on kin varied by type of support, specifically by whether the help was the comfort and advice of conversation — often provided by friends — or was more immediate and direct aid — overwhelmingly provided by kin. While we reinforce earlier findings that people turn to kin in crises, we also show that nonkin provide a specific form of social support.