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PEER GROUP

MEMBERSHIP

UNITED STATES ARMY

QUARTERMASTER CENTER & SCHOOL

Presented by CH Hughes

CLIQUE:

“A narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; esp: one held together by common interests, views, or purposes.”

-Webster’s Dictionary

OBJECTIVE:

TO EXPLORE THE QUESTIONS:

•HOW DO PEER GROUPS FORM?

•WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THEIR MEMBERSHIP?

WHY DO “PEER GROUPS” DEVELOP?

•Peer interaction in psychological development is important. During Early Adolescence, the peer group becomes more structured & organized than it was previously.

•Before the adolescent period, it is important to have friends but not so important to be a member of a definable group. The child’s friends are often found in the neighborhood, local clubs/sports teams, community centers, or classrooms. Friendship groups are homogeneous.

Adolescent Friendships provide opportunities for:

•Emotional Intimacy

•Support and Understanding

•Companionship and Fun

Early Adolescents:

•Have the cognitive skills to consider the needs/feelings of others

•Self-disclosure/intimate knowledge of the other become more central to the formation/maintenance of adolescent friendships

LAYERS LAYERS OF PEER RELATIONSHIPS

1. THE CLIQUE: SMALL FRIENDSHIP GROUPS OF 5-10 FRIENDS. THEY PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR FREQUENT INTERACTIONS BOTH WITHIN SCHOOL & NEIGHBORHOOD. ADOLESCENTS USUALLY DO NOT REFER TO THEIR GROUP OF FRIENDS AS A “CLIQUE,” BUT THE TERM IS USED TO CONNOTE A CERTAIN “TIGHTNESS” AMONG THE MEMBERS.

2. THE CROWD: REFERS TO A LARGE GROUP THAT IS USUALLY RECOGNIZED BY A FEW PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTICS:

•OREINTATION TOWARD ACADEMICS

•INVOLVEMENT IN ATHLETICS

•USE OF DRUGS

•INVOLVEMENT IN DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

3. THE LEADING CROWD: A GROUP OF STUDENTS IDENTIFIED IN RESEARCH AS:

LEADERS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL WHO TEND TO ASSOCIATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND WHO MAKE UP THE TOP GROUP IN THE SOCIAL HIERARCHY OF THE STUDENT CULTURE.

POPULARITY & ACCEPTANCE INTO A HIGH SCHOOL PEER GROUP IS BASED ON ONE OR

MORE OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS:

•ATHLETIC ABILITY

•SOCIAL CLASS

•ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

•FUTURE GOALS

•AFFLILATION WITH A RELIGIOUS, RACIAL, OR ETHNIC GROUP

•SPECIAL TALENTS

•INVOLVEMENT W/DRUGS OR DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

•GENERAL ALIENATION FROM SCHOOL

CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP

ALTHOUGH NOT PUBLICLY ARTICULATED, THE GROUPS TEND TO

INCLUDE OR EXCLUDE MEMBERS ACCORDING TO CONSISTENT

STANDARDS.

STUDY OF 3,000 STUDENTS, GRADES 9-12, DRAWN FROM 9 HIGH SCHOOLS IN 2 DIFFERENT STATES

IDENTIFIED 9 CROWD TYPES:

•JOCKS

•POPULARS

•POPULAR NICE

•AVERAGE-NORMAL

•BRAINS

•PARTYERS

•DRUGGIES

•LONERS

•NERDS

PEER GROUP BOUNDARIES & Membership

Membership in Cliques is relatively stable, but always vulnerable to change.

Membership types:

•Leaders/Central Members

•Periphery Members

•“Wannabe’s” who would like to be a part of the Clique but are never fully included

SKILLS LEARNED BY BECOMING A MEMBER OF A PEER GROUP:

•ASSESSMENT OF GROUP STRUCTURE

•SELECTION OF THE PARTICULAR GROUP OR GROUPS WITH WHICH ONE WOULD LIKE TO AFFILIATE

•PATTERNS OF DOMINANCE, DATING, RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS OUTSIDE THE GROUP

•SETS OF NORMS/EXPECTATIONS FOR THE BEHAVIOR OF PEER-GROUP MEMBERS

SKILLS LEARNED IN THE PEER GROUP (CONTINUED)

•SENSE OF WELL-BEING

•SOURCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT TO BUFFER STRESS

PARENTS & PEERS

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

•How does involvement with peers during early adolescence relate to closeness to family members?

•Do adolescents abandon family interactions/values for peer interaction & peer values?

•Can closeness to peers compensate for a lack of closeness to parents, or does the intimacy achieved with parents extend outward to a circle of friends?

•To what extent do parents continue to have an influence on adolescent peer relationships?

AGE DIFFERENTIAL:

•AGES 7-10: EXTENDED FAMILY MEMBERS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT TO CHILDREN AS A SOURCE OF SUPPORT.

•AGES 10-14: FRIENDS BECOME AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT SOURCE OF SUPPORT.

•AGES 7-14: FAMILY MEMBERS CONTINUE TO BE MENTIONED AS THE MOST CENTRAL IN THESE CHILDREN’S LIVES.

(THE PROCESS OF PEER RELATIONSHIPS TAKES PLACE AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF CONTINUING

CLOSE, SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS.)

ADOLESCENT & PARENT INTERACTION

•TIME SPENT AT HOME IN POSITIVE INTERACTIONS WITHADULTS APPEARS TO HAVE POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES.

•TIME SPENT IN PUBLIC WITH ADULTS APPEARS TO BE MORE CONFLICTUAL.

•CONFLICT WITH PARENTS INCREASE AS ADOLESCENTS GO THRU PUBERTY.

•QUALITY OF HOME ENVIRONMENT, ESPECIALLY PARENTING PRACTICES, HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ADOLESCENT’S PEER RELATIONSHIPS & QUALITY OF PARENT-CHILD INTERACTIONS.

A MODEL OF PARENTING PRACTICES, ADOLESCENT BEHAVIORS, & CROWD MEMBERSHIP:

PARENTING PRACTICES

ADOLESCENT BEHAVIORS

CROWD MEMBERSHIP

POPULAR

JOCK

BRAIN

NORMAL

DRUGGIE

OUTCAST

GRADE AVERAGE

DRUG USE

SELF-RELIANCE

Parental emphasis on achievement

Parent monitoring

Joint decision-making

Positive Path:

Negative Path:

NARRATIVE FOR MODEL LINKING PARENTING PRACTICES TO ADOLESCENT BEHAVIORS AND, ULTIMATELY, CROWD

AFFILIATION:

Parenting practices, listed in the left-hand column, were evaluated on three dimensions:

1. The extent to which parents emphasized academic achievement

2. Parental monitoring of adolescent behaviors

3. The degree to which parents involved adolescents in decision-making

Adolescent behaviors, listed in the center column, were evaluated by examining:

1. Student grade point averages

2. Drug use

3. Self-reliance

Students were characterized by one of 6 crowd affiliations, listed in the right-hand column.

Parenting practices were significantly linked to the children’s behavior, which in turn was a strong predictor of their crowd affiliation.

NARRATIVE FOR MODEL (CONTINUED)

•A Positive Path indicates a positive correlation between a parenting practice and an adolescent behavior or a particular crowd membership.

•A Negative Path indicates an inverse relationship between a parenting practice and an adolescent behavior or a crowd membership.

•The pattern was especially clear for the positive linking of parental emphasis on academic achievement, the child’s grades, and association with the “brain” crowd, and for the linking of low parental monitoring, little joint decision-making, little emphasis on academic achievement, and the high likelihood of adolescents’ use of drugs and identification with the “druggie” crowd.

•One implication of this study is that, even though adolescents may perceive their involvement with their peers as a domain separate and distinct from their family life, the thread of parental socialization practices and their consequences for adolescent behavior continue to influence peer relations.

PEER PRESSURE

•ADOLESCENTS’ CIRCLES OF FRIENDS, THEIR INTERESTS, AND THEIR STYLES OF DRESS QUICKLY LINK THEM TO SUBGROUPS THAT GIVE THEM CONTINUITY AND MEANING WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS OR SCHOOLS.

•THESE GROUPS DEMAND CONFORMITY TO THEIR NORMS AND DEMONSTRATION OF COMMITMENT AND LOYALTY TO THEIR MEMBERS.

•YOUNG PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE GROUPS FORM EXPECTATIONS THAT REINFORCE ADOLESCENTS’ CONNECTIONS TO SPECIFIC PEER GROUPS AND PROHIBIT THEIR MOVEMENT TO OTHERS.

•AN INDIVIDUAL WHO BECOMES A MEMBER OF ANY GROUP IS MORE ACCEPTABLE TO THE SOCIAL SYSTEM AS A WHOLE THAN ONE WHO TRIES TO REMAIN UNAFFILIATED AND ALOOF.

•PEER GROUP PRESSURE PROVIDES THE CONTEXT WITHIN WHICH THE CRISIS OF GROUP IDENTITY VERSUS ALIENATION IS RESOLVED.

•ADOLESCENTS ARE AT THE POINT IN THEIR INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT WHERE THEY CAN CONCEPTUALIZE THEMSELVES AS OBJECTS OF EXPECTATIONS. THEY MAY PERCEIVE THESE EXPECTATIONS AS FORCES URGING THEM TO BE MORE THAN THEY THINK THEY ARE: BRAVER, MORE OUTGOING, MORE CONFIDENT, ETC.

•PEER PRESSURE MAY HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON THE ADOLESCENT’S SELF-IMAGE AND MAY SERVE AS A MOTIVE FOR GROUP IDENTIFICATION.

•THOSE DIMESIONS OF THE SELF THAT ARE VALUED BY THE PEER GROUP BECOME ESPECIALLY SALIENT IN EACH YOUNG PERSON’S SELF-ASSESSMENT.

•PEER GROUPS GIVE ADOLESCENT’S: MORE INFLUENCE, FEELINGS OF SELF-WORTH, PROTECTION FROM LONELINESS.

•WHEN FAMILY CONFLICTS DEVELOP, ADOLESCENTS CAN SEEK COMFORT AND INTIMACY AMONG THEIR PEERS.

•TO BENEFIT FROM AFFILIATION WITH PEER GROUP, ADOLESCENTS MUST BE WILLING TO SUPPRESS SOME OF THEIR INDIVIDUALITY AND FIND PLEASURE IN FOCUSING ON THOSE ATTRIBUTES THAT THEY SHARE WITH PEERS.

HOW PEER PRESSURE IS EXERCISED:

•INVOLVEMENT WITH OTHER ADOLESCENTS OF SIMILAR FAMILY/SCHOOL BACKGROUND

•DRUG USE

•ENGAGING IN MISCONDUCT

•SEXUAL ACTIVITY

•CONFORMITY IN PERFERENCES IN DRESS, MUSIC, TATOOS, ENTERTAINMENT

PEER GROUPS AND TOTAL CONFORMITY

•MOST PEER GROUPS DEPEND ON THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THEIR MEMBERS TO LEND “DEFINITION” & “VIGOR” TO THE ROLES THAT EMERGE WITHIN THEM.

•MOST ADOLESCENTS FIND SOME SECURITY IN PEER-GROUP DEMANDS TO CONFORM; WELL-DEFINED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GROUP LEND STABILITY AND SUBSTANCE TO ADOLESCENTS’ VIEWS OF THEMSELVES.

•BY COMPLYING WITH GROUP PRESSURE, ADOLESCENTS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO STATE UNAMBIGUIOUSLY THAT THEY ARE SOMEONE AND THAT THEY BELONG SOMEWHERE.

•ADOLESCENTS’ PERSONAL VALUES ARE ALTERED/SHAPED BY PEER-GROUP PRESSURE TO INCREASE THEIR SIMILARITY TO THE OTHER MEMBERS.

•IF PEER GROUP EXPECTATIONS ARE TOO DISTANT FROM THE ADOLESCENTS’ OWN VALUES, ESTABLISHING A SATISFYING GROUP IDENTIFICAITON WILL BECOME MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. ADOLESCENTS WILL CONTINUOUSLY EXPERIENCE TENSION AND CONFLICT AS THEY TRY TO BALANCE THE ALLURE OF PEER-GROUP MEMBERSHIP WITH THE COST OF ABANDONING THEIR PERSONAL BELIEFS.

•AN INABILITY TO REDUCE THE TENSION AND CONFLICT BETWEEN GROUP PRESSURE AND PERSONAL VALUES PRODUCES A STATE OF ALIENATION, IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL IS UNABLE EITHER TO IDENTIFY WITH SOCIAL GROUPS OR TO DEVELOP PERSONAL FRIENDSHIPS.

QUESTIONS?