The Company They Keep
Subtitle: Friendships in Childhood and Adolescence (Cambridge Studies in Social and Emotional Development)
Contributors: William M. Bukowski (Editor); Andrew F. Newcomb (Editor); Willard W. Hartup (Editor)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: February 23, 1996
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 400
ISBN-13: 9780521451987
Subjects: Child & developmental psychology; Social, group or collective psychology; Psychotherapy - Child & Adolescent; Interpersonal Relations; Sociology Of Children; Psychology; Interpersonal relations in children; Interpersonal relations in ado; Developmental - Child; Friendship in children--Congresses; Psychology & Psychiatry / Developmental Psychology; Congresses; Friendship in adolescence; Friendship in children; Interpersonal relations in chi
First sentence: The social relations of children and adolescents are centered on their friends as well as their families.
Description: 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 internationally recognized scholars active in the study of friendship present 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 programs. 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 be a solid reference work for social psychologists, sociologists, and social workers concerned with interpersonal relationships.