1 Constructing Social Support With Vulnerable Citizens: Promise and Problems

Formal paid supports for people with disabilities, citizens with severe mental health problems, or the frail elderly have traditionally been provided by either institutional services or community agencies. During the last decade, however, there has been a growing critique of formal services for these vulnerable citizens. Three significant issues have been the focus of these criticisms: the compliance expected of vulnerable citizens within service settings, the segregation of individuals from community life, and the limited social support and relationships that people have in their lives.1 Much has been written about the marginalization and isolation of people with disabilities and of people who are the poor, frail and elderly. There are many explanations for the lack of relationships and limited social support. It is likely that vulnerability is constructed through all kinds of early experiences, including low expectations, negative attitudes and segregation.2 Many citizens with disabilities, for example, grow up disconnected from their non-disabled peers and from their communities, often with identities formed by rehabilitation thinking. There is extensive research on relationships, social networks and social support. Social support has been identified as a critical moderator of stress and provides a key to sustaining human relationships.3 Social support is also considered as one of the most significant predictors o