Compare methods

	Social Support Assessment	Social Network Mapping
Field	Social Work	Social Work
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1988	1990
Originator	Multiple traditions; perceived-support scale by Zimet et al., buffering theory by Cohen & Wills	Elizabeth M. Tracy & James K. Whittaker
Type	Assessment of the structure, function, and perceived adequacy of a client's social support	Visual and structured assessment of a client's personal social network
Seminal source	Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30–41.	Tracy, E. M., & Whittaker, J. K. (1990). The Social Network Map: Assessing social support in clinical practice. Families in Society, 71(8), 461–470.
Aliases	Social Support Measurement, Perceived Social Support Assessment, Social Support Network Assessment, Social Support Inventory	Social Network Map, Personal Network Mapping, Network Mapping (Social Work), Social Network Grid
Related	4	4
Summary	Social support assessment is the systematic appraisal of the people and resources a client can draw on, the kinds of support they provide, and how adequate that support feels relative to the client's needs. Drawing on the structural-functional theory of support and on validated instruments such as the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, it gives social workers a structured way to map who is in a client's network, what emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support those ties offer, and where gaps leave the client vulnerable — information that is central to strengths-based intervention and care planning.	Social network mapping is a structured way to assess a client's personal social network by listing the people in it, organizing them by life domain, and rating each relationship for the kind and direction of support it provides, its closeness, and how often and how long contact occurs. Developed for social-work practice by Elizabeth Tracy and James Whittaker as the Social Network Map and accompanying grid, it turns the often-vague question of who is in a client's life and what they offer into a visual and tabular assessment that guides support-focused intervention.