How Does the Nature of Children’s Friendship Change with Age

How does the reputation of squirtrens acquaintance tack with age? in spite of appearance this es utter I volitioning be looking at at how shaverrens intimacys change in personality as they age. I will begin first by defining what is meant by the term virtuosoship. I will then examine theories on portray and age victimization in relation to the schooling of friendly relationships, exploring search which conjures that the personality of a childs intimacy is based on their age.I will look at conflicting enquiry which suggests that although stratums of acquaintance may be categorized, that on that point is conflicting research to suggest the ages at which this conduct manifests itself may non be the comparable for apiece child. Finally I will summarize by concluding how the spirit of childrens intimacy changes with age. The very definition of what the term intimacy answerually substance in itself is difficult to clarify and categorize. A dictionary definiti on defines friendship as an attachment from mutual esteem, and a friend as individual who is loving or attached to another.As an full-grown it can seem lite to define who are friends are, they are like minded individuals whom we share common interests with, people we trust and socialize with. Other people within our adult life history are associates, work colleagues or common acquaintances. The category of friend is reserved for those whom we squander developed a bond with and in almost eggshells an emotional attachment to. However, when we consider this in relation to the nature of childrens friendship this dictionary definition and an adults view of friendship may not conduct true for all children.It overly over simplifies the nature and dynamics multiform in friendship. Barnes (2003, pg 49) highlights this when he discusses the mevery fingers children have of friendship, and the emotions and experiences these friendships expose children to, for example it affords the m the fortune to share experiences, develop communication and develop a sense of stuffiness to another somebody, however in contrast to this Barnes tells us that friendships in puerility introduces children to a to conflict situations and emotions much(prenominal) as jealousy, anger and loneliness.Best to leave a line space amidst paragraphs. The significance of childhood friendships can be a difficult area to gauge. The impressiveness of these relationships and the subsequent impact on a child is not something which can be measured with any certainty. Allison crowd, an anthropologist, states the difficulty of guaging impact but also acknowledges the significance of childhood relationships and the importance of these friendships in preparing children for later life and adult roles. participation in this drag web of social relationships helps to shape identity and sense of self which is fabricated as s/he moves towards adulthood to become a person in society. the actual proce ss of socialisation can besides ever be haltingly documented (James, 1993 cited in Kehily and Swann, 2003. pg 51). James ingress that research in this area can be difficult to shew and analyse is supported by Barnes when he discusses the reminiscing of childhood by adults in later life none of this is to deny the the value of personal recall.. ut it serves as a reminder not just to make it in an unquestioning delegacy ( Barnes, 2003, pg. 51) American psychologist Robert Selman supports the theory that the nature of childrens friendships is influenced by their social understanding which develops as they age. Selman carried out research whereby he comprise dilemmas through and through scenarios to children time-honored between three and fifteen, he then questioned the children on their solutions to these dilemmas and recorded these interviews.In doing this Selman came to the conclusion that the nature of friendship could be categorized into quaternary distinct arcdegrees, re lated to four distinct ages. Barnes (2003, pg 56) outlines Selmans four stages, Momentary personal fulfillmate this is the stage whereby children, usually around the age of three to five-spot will categorize their friends as those who live in their locality, go to the same school and who partake in similar activities.The second stage is unidirectional assistance this is the stage whereby children do things to please another, within this stage Selman acknowledges that although at this stage children may try to adapt to others the friendship is still one sided and there is little evidence of the reciprocal nature of friendship, the age at which this occurs in most children is between the age of six to eight familys old. The leash stage of Selmans theory is the fairweather co-operation stage usually evident in children aged between nine and twelve years.Within this stage children begin to see the upshot of their actions and begin to act accordingly, that is to say they apprecia te that their actions and the actions of their friends are now evaluated and accordingly they begin to become adaptable taking into account the judgements, needs and preferences of their friends. Within this stage Selman argues that children may encounter conflict and disagreements which in turn may cause these friendships to peter out as opposed to enduring. Selmans final stage is called mutual concern this is usually seen around the ages of eleven to fifteen.Within this stage Selmans research suggested that children have developed the skills required to develop stronger friendships based on a mutal understanding Within this stage friendships can survive minor conflicts, Selman acknowledges the fact that, through his research, he found the bearing in which children describe their friendship has now changed, he found that descriptions were not based on physiologic descriptions, which had been the case with younger children but were now based on psychological attributes.Selmans theories on stage development of friendships can be compared with other researchers who also concluded that their were specific points in a childs life whereby the nature of their friendship differed dependent on age, Barnes (2003, pg 55) comments on Bigelow and La Gaipa (1980) who also categorized the nature of friendship based on particular age/stage brackets. Bigelow and La Gaipa argued that the ever-changing nature of friendship developed alongside childrens cognitive development.That is to say as children develop their cognitive understanding and have experiences of social interaction and the nature of their friendships develop and this can be categorized in general terms into particular ages. Barnes uses Zick Rubin, an American psychologist, to illustrate this staging theory, Rubin (1980) likens this to climbing a ladder and resting at each rung in order to merge the new level of interpersonal awareness that has been achieved (Barnes,2003, cited in Kehily and Swann).This ca tegorization of stage development is not a new concept in the 1950s and 1960s jean Piaget a Swiss psychologist through years of research developed theories regarding child development and the stages which children will act in a certain way based on their cognitive development, however Increasingly psychologists have adopted a lifespan perspective which recognizes that development is a process that continues from birth to remainder he end of childhood, as well as the beginning and middle, is not fixed by chronological age (Morrow, 2003). It is therefore important not to exclusively focus on the age of a child and assume that they will fit into a pre-defined category or stage, in my opinion what Morrow highlights for us is that development isnt fixed in to particular ages and stages, it suggests to me the way in which children and adults act can be determined by other factors such as their surroundings and the experiences they have.Avoid using too many quotations in U212 essays u se them sparingly. We involve to hear your answer primarily in your words. Although it can be argued that slottingchildrens friendship development solely into age brackets isnt conclusive, it is helpful in determining the changing nature of friendship. By using stage development theories such as Selmans or Piagets theories on the cognitive development of children we can use these stages to further explore the changing nature of friendship within a wider context.In the case of Selman, research was carried out by interviewing children of varying ages and asking them to comment on scenarios, a different approach in determining the changing nature of friendship has been explored through the observation of children in the context of play and life experiences and comparing these social interactions against the stage models.By taking an ethnographic approach canvass children, this involves the direct observation and analysis of their communications, sociologist William Cursaro (1985) exp lored the way in which children talked about friendship with each other. Through his studies Cursaro identified six distinct ways in which children talked in relation to friendship these included instances whereby children talked about friends as a method to gain access to play or categorized friends as the people they were playing with.Cursaros research was based around children aged between three and five year old and in his findings highlights that empathetic demeanour is displayed even in children at this young age, if we compare this to Selmans stages of friendship development this empathetic behaviour should be seen at around the age of eleven onwards according to his research. Barnes (2003, pg 61) uses Allison James own findings from her study of four year olds to support Cursaros findings.James (1993) suggests through its discrete performance that children learn about and experience friendship, which means that social contexts in which children find themselves, not simply t heir age, play the greater part in shaping childrens understanding of the concept James and Cursaro offer a contrasting view to that of Selman and Piaget in the way in which children develop their friendships. It is cash in ones chips that age alone can not authentically determine how a child will behave towards their friends and that considerations relating to social experiences and environmental influences have to be taken into account.Common held beliefs, discourses, can also influence the way in which children will behave and react in relation to friends and friendship, factors such as culture, gender and social status will also have a bearing on a child or adults behaviour and thus influence the way in which they behave and feel they should behave. What is clear is that research offers no definitive model on the changing nature of childrens friendships it cannot be precise in relation to age when a child will move from one stage to another it merely confirms the precarious n ature of friendships.Previous sentence is too long and is actually three eliminate sentences. However what is apparent is the importance and significance of friendships need linking words or an introduction of some sort here for this quotegt friendships are among the central ingredients in childrens lives from as early as age three. through adolescence. Friendships occupy, both in their actual conduct and in the world of thought and fantasy, a large proportion of childrens waking hours. They are often the sources of childrens greatest pleasures and deepest frustrations. ( Rubin,1980, cited in Barnes, 2003, pg 52).