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Stages of FriendshipDevondraJoyelle MillsLaurenLindsay BlackTakenya MoodyZina Foston

+What is a Friendship?To Children Of course…

The task we chose focused on exploring the self- concepts and ideas of friendships from the perspective of a school- aged child and a preschooler. We conducted an interview to further analyze which stage of friendship each child was at depending on their age.

+Quick Activity

Everyone take a moment to think about what the word “friendship” means to you

Qualities you look for in a friend?

How you act toward your friends?

What good friends do vs. What bad friends do

+Harry Stack SullivanThree Stages Of Friendship

1. First Stage (ages 2-5)

Relationship with parent or guardian is the primary focus for a child at this stage.

2. Second Stage (ages 4-8)

Child turns towards playmate and other children their age as friends.

3. Third Stage (ages 8-11)

Child displays new characteristic towards friendships “chumship”

+Robert L. SelmanFive Stages Of Friendship

1. Stage 1 (ages 3-7) : Momentary physical Playmates

2. Stage 2 (ages 4-9) : One- Way Assistance

3. Stage 3 (ages 6-12) : Fair- Weather Cooperation

4. Stage 4 (ages 11-15) : Transitioning Stage

5. Stage 5 (ages 12- Adulthood) : Advancement

+Stage Theory Disclaimers

These Stages are not concrete

Chronological age is not reliable

A child does not have to go through every aspect of the stage

When asking about friendships there are often inconsistencies in the responses

+The Interviews

Preschool aged

School aged

Child with Autism

There were several different interviews conducted in the process of this project

+What We Learned

In conclusion, we discovered that all children see friendship from varying perspectives. Essentially, their concepts of friendship can be analyzed or simply made sense of by friendship theories such as Selman’s and Sullivan’s. Some of the interviewees were right on the mark with some of the stages while others demonstrated some parts of the stages better than others. Through the process of completing our project we too recognized what stages we fall under and if we deem them to be accurate or not.

+References

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2004/2peer/Pages/Stages.htm#Stag_sel