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

How does the temper of churlrens friendly relationship vary with eon? in spite of appearance this essay I go forth be looking at how childrens experiences change in character as they season. I give come appear first by defining what is meant by the term friendly relationship. I give then examine theories on ramification and mount disclosement in relation to the developing of acquaintances, exploring seek which kick ups that the spirit of a childs friendly relationship is undercoat on their age.I will look at contradictory look which suggests that although lay outs of familiarity whitethorn be categorized, that thither is conflicting look into to suggest the ages at which this behaviour manifests itself-importance may non be the same for each child. in conclusion I will summarize by concluding how the character of childrens friendship changes with age. The minute definition of what the term friendship genuinely means in itself is ambitious to explicat e and categorize. A dictionary definition defines friendship as an accompaniment from mutual esteem, and a friend as about unity who is love or attached to a nonher.As an openhanded it crapper seem easy to define who atomic number 18 friends atomic number 18, they ar like minded individuals whom we partake in common interests with, race we trust and interact with. Other people within our adult liveness are associates, work colleagues or general acquaintances. The category of friend is taci rhythm for those whom we pass developed a gravel with and in most(prenominal) plates an emotional attachment to. How incessantly, when we consider this in relation to the disposition of childrens friendship this dictionary definition and an adults feeling of friendship may non hold off true for all children.It in addition everywhere simplifies the nature and dynamics involved in friendship. Barnes (2003, pg 49) highlights this when he discusses the m whatever experiences chil dren have of friendship, and the emotions and experiences these friendships routelay children to, for example it affords them the opportunity to share experiences, develop communication and develop a sniff out of closeness to an a nonher(prenominal) person, however in contrast to this Barnes tells us that friendships in childishness introduces children to a to conflict situations and emotions much(prenominal) as jealousy, anger and lone crinkless.Best to leave a line space between paragraphs. The signifi wadce of puerility friendships can be a problematic area to gauge. The importance of these relationships and the subsequent affect on a child is not something which can be measured with any definitety. Allison James, an anthropologist, states the difficulty of guaging impact but in addition acknowledges the significance of childhood relationships and the importance of these friendships in preparing children for later life and adult roles. participation in this tangled we b of loving relationships helps to shape identity and sense of self which is assumed as s/he moves towards adulthood to become a person in society. the actual plow of socialisation can only ever be haltingly documented (James, 1993 cited in Kehily and Swann, 2003. pg 51). James admission that research in this area can be difficult to record and analyse is supported by Barnes when he discusses the reminiscing of childhood by adults in later life none of this is to pass over the the value of personal reminiscence.. ut it serves as a reminder not just to accept it in an unquestioning way ( Barnes, 2003, pg. 51) American psychologist Robert Selman supports the speculation that the nature of childrens friendships is influenced by their social understanding which develops as they age. Selman carried out research whereby he pose dilemmas by scenarios to children aged between trio and fifteen, he then questioned the children on their solutions to these dilemmas and enter these inte rviews.In doing this Selman came to the conclusion that the nature of friendship could be categorized into four distinct bes, related to to four distinct ages. Barnes (2003, pg 56) outlines Selmans four stages, transient physical seemate this is the stage whereby children, ordinarily close to the age of three to tailfin will categorize their friends as those who drop dead in their locality, go to the same nurture and who partake in similar activities.The assist stage is One-way 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 conciliate 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 viii years old. The third stage of Selmans theory is the fairweather co-operation stage usually evident in children aged between nine and xi i years.Within this stage children begin to see the consequence of their actions and begin to act accordingly, that is to say they give notice that their actions and the actions of their friends are now evaluated and hence they begin to become adaptable winning into neb the thoughts, desires 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 almost the ages of eleven to fifteen.Within this stage Selmans research suggested that children have developed the skills required to develop stronger friendships ground on a mutal understanding Within this stage friendships can survive minor(ip) conflicts, Selman acknowledges the fact that, with his research, he found the way in which children describe their friendship has now changed, he found that descriptions were not bas ed on physical descriptions, which had been the case with younger children but were now based on psychological attributes.Selmans theories on stage news report 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 changing nature of friendship developed a commodiousside childrens cognitive teaching.That is to say as children develop their cognitive understanding and have experiences of social fundamental interaction and the nature of their friendships develop and this can be categorized in general equipment casualty into particular ages. Barnes uses Zick Rubin, an American psychologist, to illustrate this re-create theory, Rubin (1980) likens this to climbing a lad der and resting at each rung in arrange to consolidate the unused level of social awareness that has been achieved (Barnes,2003, cited in Kehily and Swann).This categorization 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 choose a lifespan perspective which recognizes that development is a process that continues from birth to death 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 wholly 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 withal many quotations in U212 essays use them sparingly. We pauperism 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 shape up 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 postulation them to comment on scenarios, a several(predicate) approach in determining the changing nature of friendship has been explored through the ceremony of children in the context of mutant and life experiences and comparing these social interactions against the st age models.By taking an ethnographic approach studying children, this involves the pack observation and analysis of their communications, sociologist William Cursaro (1985) explored the way in which children talked or so friendship with each other. done 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 behaviour 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 forward 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 (199 3) suggests through its discrete performance that children learn about and experience friendship, which means that social contexts in which children find themselves, not simply their age, play the greater part in defining childrens understanding of the concept James and Cursaro chap a contrasting view to that of Selman and Piaget in the way in which children develop their friendships. It is percipient that age alone can not truly 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, grammatical 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 mode l 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 mobile nature of friendships.Previous sentence is too long and is actually three separate sentences. nonetheless 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 primaeval as age three. through adolescence. Friendships occupy, both in their actual brook 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).