In recent years there have been a number of studies regarding how children perceive friendship (Brownlow, 2012). Children may have different understandings of what friendship means to them depending on their age or where they live. Two methods used in this field are content analysis and ethnology. This essay will illustrate the similarities and differences between the two methods through the work of two groups of researchers. Content analysis was used by Brian Bigelow and John La Gaipa, and ethnographic research was carried out by William Corsaro. The essay will show that although the researchers worked in the same area of study with some similarity in their approach, they produced contrasting data that was therefore analysed differently.
Research in any given area can yield many different results despite having the same aim. Varying results of separate studies may be due to different circumstances and conditions that surround them. Both Bigelow and La Gaipa and Corsaro differed in their conclusions (Brownlow, 2012). However, both had a similar aim in as much as they wanted to research how children understood friendship. By contrast, how and whether previous studies influenced them differed. The work of Bigelow and La Gaipa was not rooted in any background or tradition of research. They carried out their work in 1975 and at that time most studies about children had centred on attraction. Therefore, the work that they did was among the first of its kind. In addition to being an original piece of research, it also had validity because subsequent individuals carried out similar work. One such person was William Damon with the research he did in 1977 (Brownlow, 2012). Damon was also studying children’s friendships and as a conseq...
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...aro appeared to have overcome these problems by using the ‘reactive method’.
In conclusion, content analysis and ethnographic research have similarities and differences. They can both be used with the same aim in mind; in this case to study what friendship means to children. They are similar in that neither of them involve laboratory experiments but rather focus on the children’s words. The content analysis of Bigelow and La Gaipa was significant in that it was unique as a method and provided insights into an under researched area. Corsaro’s ethnographic work built on previous studies, but because it focussed on how children spoke to each other it gave a more complete understanding of the subject matter than interviews or essays. Therefore, regardless of the differences that research methods may have, they can equally be utilised to study the same area of research.
Kehily, M. J. 2014. Understanding childhood: an introduction to some key themes and issues. [e-book] Available through: online https://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335212689.pdf [Accessed: 20 Mar 2014].
According to Tannen, differences in childhood can impact individual’s communication with each other in relationships. At a young age, children tend to play with other children who are the same gender as them. Both groups of genders have different ways of building a friendship. Tannen says that “Little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets” (276). It is important for girls to share secrets to get closer to one another and to have a mutual understanding unlike boys whose bonds are “based
There are few fields within the child development science. One of them is represented by the psychoanalytical theory, which looks at the child emotional development within the context of social interaction and early attachments. This framework is called psychosocial as it looks on the emotional and social aspects. Running in parallel and influencing each other there are two more main areas, cognitive and physical. Although I am focusing on the aspects of the psychosocial development, it is important to remember that all these areas are being affected one by the other, where the development of the emotional skills plays central role in a regular development of cognitive and physical skills.
From a young age most people have gone through many relationships with other people who were not their family. Thus, we often acknowledge these relationships as friendships. But the word friend is too broad, so people categorize their friends to several types. In her book “Necessary Losses: The Lovers, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow”, Judith Viorst divided friendships to six types. Those are convenience friends, special Interest friends, historical friends, crossroad friends, cross-generation friends and close friends. In my life, I have been friend with many people since I was little. Although I have met all six kinds of friend of Viorst, convenience friends and close friends are two important kinds of friends in my life.
This stage is important to the social development of the child as it paves their progressive path into adolescence and later adulthood. Childhood friendships also tend to display the characteristics or situations that society has developed. The sandlot has multiple social contexts of friendships from gender and age-related differences within the types of play that the children engage in. These social contexts are seen though out the film. “The important psychological benefits that a child gains from friendship are an increased self-esteem, a greater emotional intelligence, and an enhanced set of social skills.” (Salisch,
Marion Winik’s “What Are Friends For?” expresses the characteristics of friendships and their importance in her existence. Winik begins by stating her theory of how some people can’t contribute as much to a friendship with their characteristic traits, while others can fulfill the friendship. She illustrates the eight friendships she has experienced, categorized as Buddies, Relative Friends, Work Friends, Faraway Friends, Former Friends, Friends You Love to Hate, Hero Friends, and New Friends. In like manner, the friendships that I have experienced agree and contradict with Winik’s categorizations.
The childhood of children requires someone to love, and a person that is capable of providing love. The early age of children is sensitive because each tiny mistake can create a devastating impact on their future. For example, there is a gigantic amount of chil...
While all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different, changes, both generationally and across cultures. “The essence of childhood studies is that childhood is a social and cultural phenomenon” (James, 1998). Evident that there are in fact multiple childhoods, a unifying theme of childhood studies is that childhood is a social construction and aims to explore the major implications on future outcomes and adulthood. Recognizing childhood as a social construction guides exploration through themes to a better understanding of multiple childhoods, particularly differences influencing individual perception and experience of childhood. Childhood is socially constructed according to parenting style by parents’ ability to create a secure parent-child relationship, embrace love in attitudes towards the child through acceptance in a prepared environment, fostering healthy development which results in evidence based, major impacts on the experience of childhood as well as for the child’s resiliency and ability to overcome any adversity in the environment to reach positive future outcomes and succeed.
They hypothesized that people would use friend representations to interpret strangers, especially friend-likes strangers. They also hypothesized that friendship importance, the amount of contact with a friend or parent, and the degree to which a friend or parent fulfills attachment-related needs
Woodhead, M. and Montgomery, H. (Eds) (2003) Understanding childhood: an interdisciplinary approach, Milton Keynes: John Wiley and sons in association with The Open University.
Children have their own perspectives about the event in their life. These perspectives differ among the children as their interaction within the social groups and various cultures (Education, 2008). Thus, learning and experiences will become more meaningful if there is a close relationship between school, families and community (Education, 2008).
One of the greatest aspects of one’s life is the friendships made throughout the years. Friends are there to help comfort, laugh with, ward off loneliness, and to build up connections between other people. Amongst these attributes, friends at a young age help children to “build trust in people outside their families and consequently help lay the groundwork for healthy adult relationships (Stout, 2013, para. 14).” However, with the introduction of technology brings along social medi...
When defining friendship it can be explained in numerous of ways. It is most commonly described as the quality or state of being friendly; but, truthfully friendship it far more complex than just a simple expression to one another. It is a relationship that is formed over time that takes much commitment and a leveled compromise with one another to proceed the connection. A friendship can begin from something as common as a mutual interest and form into something life lasting. In order to begin and maintain this correspondence, there will be an urgence for similar interest, honesty, and making time and showing appreciation for one another.
Friendship plays a crucial role in children’s development (Estell, Jones, Pearl & Van Acker, 2009; Poulin & Chan, 2010) that includes, cognitive, emotional (Scharf, 2013), psychosocial (Betts & Stiller, 2014; McDougall & Hymel, 2007), well-being (Asbjørnslett, Engelsrud & Helseth, 2012), and health (Einberg, Svedberg, Enskär & Nygren, 2015). It is defined as an exchanged and voluntary relationship among two or more children who display attachment and liking towards one another, constantly showing closeness and engaged in shared activities, positive affect and sign of happiness (Hollingsworth & Buysse, 2009). Also, part of the categorization for friendship even for young children are endearment, companionship and mutual liking (Klima & Repetti,
Friendship is the most wonderful relationship that anyone can have. Ideally a friend is a person who offers love and respect and will never leave or betray us. Friends can tell harsh truths when they must be told. There are four different types of friends: True friends, Convenient friends, Special interest friends, and historical friends. To have friendship is to have comfort. In times of crisis and depression, a friend is there to calm us and to help lift up our spirits.