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ConnectionsintheWorkplaceasaWayofAccumulatingSocialCapital…
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conferences”(D).Treebelongtootherorganizationsbecausetheyofercontacts:“the
graduateclub:PolishHappyHour,tomeetpeoplemoreorlessmyageandofsimilar
culturallevel”(C),PolishAmericanCongress,PolishTeachers,Union.8Terearealso
purelyAmerican-typemembershipsinorganizationswhich“focusonexpressingpolicy
viewsinthenationalpoliticaldebate,notonprovidingregularconnectionamongindi-
vidualmembersatthegrassrootslevel”(Putnam2000,51).Suchmembershipdoesnot
requiretoomuchefort;astheyindicatethemselves,theydonotpaytoomuchattention
toit:“IamamemberofthePopeJPIICulturalCenter,WashingtonDConlybecause
Ipayacontributionfee,Isimplysupportthemthisisonlyforthefactofbelonging;
Ipay,butIneverattendanymeetings...we[theintervieweeandhisfamilyintheUSA]
belongtothePolishSlavicFederalCreditUnion,becauseitnancesscholarshipstothe
Polishyouth,itgivesloans,andsupportsculturaleventsandfoundations;everybody
herebelongstothecreditunion”(Q).Ifthereisatraceofbridgingintheseanswers,
thisisdefinitelythecaseofthetwomenwhoattendseminarsandconferencestogether
withpeopleofsimilarinterests,butpresumablydiferentsocialbackgrounds;thesame
mightalsobetrueforthePolishAmericanCongress.However,tostatethisasafact,
morein-depthresearchshouldbeconducted.Asforthisresearch,therealityisthatthe
workplaceisnotakeywordwhentalkingaboutbridgingsocialcapital.
TecollecteddataprovesthatwhetherPolishimmigrantsintheUSAbondor
bridge,itisnotopenforconjecture.Itisclearthatthey“playitsafe”–aboveallthey
socializewiththeirkin,nexttheysocializewithinagroupofthesamesocialstatus,
usuallyofsimilaremploymentpositions,andinthiswaytheybond,buttheydonot
bridge.Itisprobablyhardtondexamplesofbridgingwithintheresearchedgroup.
EventhewomanwhohasbeenbabysittingforrichAmericansforeightyears,andfeels
theytreatheronfavorableconditions,asapartoftheirfamily,becausesheishonored
withaplaceattheirtableduringtheirfamilycelebrations,shouldnotthinkofherself
asapartoftheirgroup;thisisjustexceptionaltreatmentatbest.
Tecriteria
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whichinfluencethenatureofsocialcontactsintheworkplacearethelength
andtypeofemployment,thekindofworkperformed,education,andtheemployer.
Telongertheworker,semploymenttimethegreaterthechanceforconnectingto
hisworkmates.Intheirpresentjobstherespondentshavebeenemployedfromfour
tofeenyears;theyalsohaverichworkexperienceandemploymentrecords:inthe
courseoftheirstayintheUSAtheyhavechangedjobsvetimesonaverage.10Tose
whohaveworkedinthesameplaceforuptotenyears(9)developedtheirrelation-
shipsmainlywithco-workers,andagreatmajorityofthosewhohaveworkedlonger
thanthat(uptoeighteenyears)admittheyhaveclosefriendsatwork.Tedataonly
confirmsthattimeworkstotheadvantageofsocialties.Onewoman,withtwoyears
08TisisaPolishtradeunionbutherethemembershipisprobablyforsentimentalreasons.
09TeabilitytocommunicateinEnglishwouldprobablybeoneofthesecriteria;however,thequestion
abouttheimmigrants,levelofEnglishwasnotplacedinthequestionnaireonlybecausetheauthorbelieves
thataminimumve-yearstayintheUSAresultsintheirEnglishbeingatleastcommunicative.
10Moreprecisely,thenumberofjobsrangedfromtwototen;twointerviewees(brothers)whoarrivedin
theUSAwiththeirparentswhenaged14and15admittedthattheyhadhadadozenpart-time,usually
seasonal,summerjobs,whichtheyperformedwhilestudyingatthesametime.