Degree Year

1957

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Sociology

Keywords

Lorain High School, Junior, Friendship, Classroom, Students, Friends, Culture, Relationships, Lorain (OH)

Abstract

Before we examine the friendship patterns of Lorain High School Junior Class, it is well to discuss briefly the meaning of the relationship, friendship, in the existing society and to refer to certain studies dealing with selective association and friendship patterns among high school students. It is important to examine the peculiarities in the social process of friendship within the culture and also to note its particular functions and characteristics within the subculture of a high school situation as a background for the present study.

Friendship in the culture of the United States is difficult to define because it is not an institutionalized relationship. What the best friend is, what his functions is, and how he is chosen is not formalized as in come cultures such as the Dahomean.

One might say that the relationship of best friends is a dyadic one in which two individuals assume mutual obligations and affections which transcend those obligations and affections ordinarily imposed by the society in which the relationship takes place. Thus, for example, each student in a high school situation chooses one or more best friends and thereby goes beyond the casual relationship supported by the classroom situation. These more intimate primary relationships include long hours of being together, sharing common interests within and outside school. Note that every student-to-student relationship does not and cannot assume this degree of involvement.

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