Support Systems of Schizophrenic and Nonschizophrenic Puerto Rican Migrant Women in New York City*

Analysis of the social networks and support systems of patients with varying degrees of emotional disturbance reveals models of naturally occurring support systems that can be used by mental health professionals for fostering, redeveloping, or building supports for chronic schizophrenic patients in their natural communities. As a demonstration, analysis is made of the social supports of 55 Puerto Rican migrant women with five degrees of emotional disturbance. Seven patterns of social support with associated family and emotional status variables emerge. These support system patterns range on a continuum from one which reflects the ideals of the culture found primarily among women who are symptom-free, through four variations that appear to be adaptations to deficits in the core support system (e.g., absence of husband, extended kin, or both) found predominantly among the nonschizophrenic but disturbed women, to two culturally deviant forms found almost exclusively among the schizophrenics. The salient finding of this analysis is that there is greater reliance upon neighbors, friends, and other non-kin than upon family among the schizophrenic women who lead their lives relatively successfully within the community. It is suggested that these non-kin supports be used in natural network therapy to reintegrate or maintain chronic schizophrenic patients in the Puerto Rican migrant community and that similar analyses be made of the support systems of patients from other communities.