Disruption of Adolescent Social Relations in America

The Disruption of Adolescent Social Relations in America

The accumulation of social science research on adolescent friendship has led to the widely accepted supposition that youth peer relations are generally short-term despite their critical impact on adolescents. Researchers such as Paine have suggested that friendship is the contrast of bureaucracy: where friendship is private, personal, voluntary and equal (as cited in Amit-Talai 234-244). More recent opinions on friendship emerged from Dorothy Jerrome, who argues that friendship “assumes special importance at times of relative roleness” and from Robert Bell, who proposes that “friendship... is unlikely to last throughout the life cycle... as different needs arise” (as cited in Amit-Talai 244). Similarly, Robert B. Cairns suggested that “over time, specific social relationships of persons may fade into the background or thrust into the foreground, depending upon the contemporary quality and contextual salience of the relationship” (1330). Drawing on her own studies, Amit-Talai rejects the idea that the dislocation of adolescent friendships is a natural phenomenon due to changes in the lifecycle and instead proposes that such disruption is a result of institutionalized programs trying to disperse youth peer relations.

However, Amit-Talai’s research is centered in Quebec and doesn’t explore other national contexts. By neglecting to expand her research sites to other countries, it is unsure if there is a connection between the subjects in Amit-Talai’s studies and adolescents from other parts of the world. This lack of cross-cultural study raises the question of whether or not secondary schools outside of Canada discourage or encourage friendships in a similar fashion observed in Amit-Talai’s research. By promoting similarities, propinquity and status, the tracking system that American high schools practice encourages adolescent social relations in the United States.

In response to the growing...