The Company They Keep: Friendships in Childhood and Adolescence

by Edited by William M. Bukowski , Andrew F. Newcomb , Willard W. Hartup

• ISBN13: 9780521451987
• ISBN10: 0521451981
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-02-23
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Friendship is one of life's most essential and rewarding forms of interaction. It is a feature of every culture and most persons interact with their friends on a daily basis. Thus far, most research on the subject of friendship has concentrated on peer acceptance, dyadic properties and the contribution that friendship makes to development and adjustment. There has been little exploration of friendship's role in a child's social and emotional growth. The Company They Keep pioneers this area. This book provides a forum in which a group of internationally recognized scholars, active in the study of friendship, presents the major conceptual issues, themes, and findings from their research. The authors describe the theoretical and empirical context, and the goals of their own research programmes. They discuss current research and the methodological strategies adopted for studying friendship relations. A variety of topics is explored, including cultural variations in children's and adolescents' friendships, the association between friendship and cognitive and personality development, the effect of friendship on adjustment, and the links between experience within the family and relationships with friends. The authors also express their views on future directions for such research. This book will appeal to developmental psychologists, researchers, and students. It will also provide a solid reference work for social psychologists, sociologists, and social workers concerned with interpersonal relationships.

Table of Contents

1. Friendships and their significance in childhood and adolescence: introduction and comment William M. Bukowski, Andrew F. Newcomb, Willard W. Hartup

Part I. The Nature of Friendship, its Measurement and Development: 2. Amicitia, drujba, shin-yu, philia, freund, friendship: on the cultural diversity of a human relationship Lothar Krappmann

3. The measurement of friendship perceptions: conceptual and methodological issues Wyndol Furman

4. The earliest friendships Carollee Howes

5. Determinants of friendship selection and quality: developmental perspectives Frances E. Aboud and Morton J. Mendelson

Part II. Interdependence of Relationship Systems: 6. Parents' interpersonal relationships and children's friendships Anna Beth Doyle and Dorothy Markiewicz

7. Individual differences in friendship quality: links to child-mother attachment Kathryn A. Kerns

8. Need fulfilment, interpersonal competence, and the developmental contexts of early adolescent friendship Duane Buhrmester

9. Closeness and conflict in adolescent peer relationships: interdependence with friends and romantic partners Brett Laursen

Part III. Friendship and its Relations to Other Aspects of Development: 10. Cooperation, close relationships, and cognitive development Willard W. Hartup

11. Friendship and morality: (how) are they related? William M. Bukowski and Lorrie K. Sippola

12. Friendships of maltreated children and adolescents: contexts for expressing and modifying relationship history Joseph M. Price

Part IV. Friendship and Adaption: 13. The developmental significance of children's friendship relations Andrew F. Newcomb and Catherine L. Bagwell

14. Linkages between friendship and adjustment during early school transitions Gary W. Ladd and Becky J. Kochenderfer

15. Exploring the effects of friendship quality on social development Thomas J. Berndt

16. Distinguishing friendship from acceptance: implications for intervention and assessment Steven R. Asher, Jeffrey G. Parker and Diane Walker.