Friendship and Belonging

Abstract

Experiences within childhood peer groups are central to personality development and lay important foundations for later, more intimate peer relationships—the friendships of early adolescence. In addition to the presence of close friends in early adolescence, many other factors—including socioeconomic, familial, and neighborhood factors—determine the particular role these relationships will play in an early adolescent's life. Pairs are never disconnected from the broader social context, so that the meaning of pair interactions, including painful betrayals and acts of courage, are most fully understood when that broader context is kept in view. The short- and long-term consequences of poor peer relationships in childhood can be ameliorated by adult supports at home, in school, and in the neighborhood. The theory guiding the practice of pair therapy suggests that cycles of rejection are maintained when youth do not develop age-appropriate capacities for interpersonal understanding or for managing intimacy and autonomy needs in their relationships.