‘Friendship Changes Its Meaning and Function Through the Life Course Essay

In more western societies, familiarity is portrayed in a very positive and desirable light, and most of all something throng catch the freedom to choose, unlike kinship. neverthe slight as examined further in this essay, intimacy means and functions as many variant things to incompatible people and peck be influenced by an array of contrary affable factors.thither ar various stages in the living-course that provide both opportunities and threats to the development and maintenance of knowledges, yet it is evident that familiarity does multifariousness and assume in meaning and function through the life course. Some sociologists believe that social change has unnatural the significance of friendship, and thus changed its function throughout the life course. Due to social change, prime(a) and reciprocity have be throw in highly valued in relationships which is expected in todays post-industrial society.Many see the traditional nuclear family as diminishing. This can be explained by the individualisation thesis (Giddens 1992, Ulrich Beck and Beck Gersheim 1995), who argue that set traditions and social rules be in decline, thus giving rise to voluntarism and democracy appargonnt from kinship which can be recognised in the notion of the pure relationship (Giddens 1992). Therefore friendship can be seen as the musical themel relationship in society differing much from the fixed or given relationships with kin and the community, which are seen to be declining in significance.This has allowed friends to take the roles traditionally formed by families. The idea of families of choice (Weeks et al 20019) suggests that trends much(prenominal) as increase cohabitation, divorce rates, greater social and geographical mobility, increasing levels of female education, increased participation of females in the labour market, and the growth of non-heterosexual househ former(a) arrangements along with a difficult sense of individualization have led to fami lies of choice.This social suffusion of family and friends is especially evident amongst non-heterosexuals, due to their exclusion from the family and marriage in which they havent received support from families theyve chosen their own ne dickensrks of relationships conceived as families. barely it is important not to overstate the significance of friendship compared to relationships with family with much empirical evidence stating family relationships still catch ones breath significant.Firstly, it is important to recognise that there isnt a wizard universal definition of friendship which can cause many sociologists to encounter problems when researching the notion of friendship, and thus how its meaning and function may change and evolve through the life course. There are many different forms of friendships, ranging from diverse and complex friendships which are dynamical and evolving. Whether it is those we file in our address books to those who have a profound presence in o ur lives.People prehend the label friend to those whom theyve simply had a pleasant association with or as for as those who theyve divided up a lifelong relationship with. Some believe it is the valuing of the other mortal for whatever is perceived as their unique and pleasing qualities (Wright 1978), which is said to be a defining imageistic. Research into what friendship means, reveals friendship as being voluntary rather than obligatory.Though as explored further this element of choice of who we categorise as our friends, can be highly influenced by other social factors and elements of homophily which changes as we estimate different stages of the life course. There is much diversity within friendship, with every relationship being completely unique. There are many recurrent types of friendships, such as associates, useful contacts, favour friends and a fun friend which are categorized as a simple friend, which ranges to a helpmate, comforter, confidant and a soul mate which launch towards a complex friendship.Research has found that the degree of intimacy of a friendship is call fored by the amount of time friends have known each other. Furthermore, Pahl and Spencer categories the types of friendships people have in their personal communities into different types of friendship repertoire. They identify between the basic, intense, focal and broad repertoire, these typologies allow us recognise that some friendships ratify in meaning whereas some even hightail it to get lost ad fade external as people enter different stages of the life course.Through stages in the life course such as leaving school, going to college, starting work, living with a partner/getting married, having children, getting divorced, travel home and retiring etc, can provide red-hot opportunities for friendship whilst even threaten existing ones. kinship ties and especially primary kinship ties generally continue in some form, whereas change in friendship is routine and norma l. Indeed some friendships are long-term with some even life-long, although for the majority this isnt the case. usually friends occupy similar social positions to one another tending to be the same age, be of a similar class position, same gender and occupy similar positions in the life course. experiences are ready in certain periods of our life and then gradually become less significant and meaningful, due to a change in peoples circumstances as they enter in stages of the life course, thus sustaining that relationship becomes difficult. There are a variety of domestic circumstances that can tint friendship.typically there appears to be changes in peoples friendship patterns when they get married. This is because their existing relationships with other single people tends to become less central to their lives and be renewd by other couple friendships (Cohen 1992), this is how couples create a marital relationship in which togetherness and mutual involvement is paramount. Alo ng with this is sharing leisure and sociability thereof maintaining friendships with those who are single becomes difficult.Not only that but divorce can also dramatically manipulate friendship, for men the effect may be less who will continue to be involved in the same work and leisure activities whereas women with children, their friendships patterns will alter more significantly due a change in their social, sparing and domestic circumstances (Milardo 1987). Similarly shifts can occur in friendship when children are born, the aspects of family life will affect the space available for friendship.Old activities that were once shared between two people often become problematic, especially in the early years of childhood Having children can be a very demanding job, therefore less time is left for developing new and servicing old friendships, and thus gradually old friends who are at different stages of their life course become less involved and are replaced by others who share a s imilar social position. In the same way, sympathize with for an elderly relative can constrain the freedom for sociability.However, we can also see how gender is affected within childcare which affects the space for friendship. As many women have less extensive social participation, and their character of domestic and pay labour, therefore there is less opportunity to develop social ties. Whereas, men tend to have more time and financial resources to devote to sociability because of their role within the domestic and paid division of labour. Equally, as people enter old age and retirement this can also affect the opportunities for friendship.For some retirement may present them with more time to spend with friends, with the absence of work commitments. However others the minify financial circumstances mean the engagement through social activities is limited, and the pool of social contacts is reduced through employment. Friendships can also alter due to a change in a persons soci al location. For instance, if someone was to gain a promotion at work it could affect their friendship ties.Not only that but with the idea of work as someone is in a different position within a hierarchy, they may have authority over others and thus increased earning aptitude and an alteration of their life-style, maintaining existing friends becomes difficult especially as friendship is seen to be based on equality. in spite of friendship being based on liking and trust and not on status hierarchy or difference, in essence the friendships becomes less active, and new friends who lead similar life-styles and of similar status replace old friends.A persons work event affects the opportunities they have in meeting others as well as the resources of time, money and energy they have for sociability (Allen 1989). The demands and organization of a persons work can also pattern their friendships both inside and outside the workplace. For example, different shift patterns, different le vels of physical and mention exertion and different times being away from home call affect and individuals capability and willingness to participate in sociability.Nevertheless, it may be thought that due advances in technology, email and social networking increase the possibility of forming friendships with face to face conversation being absent. Yet, despite these new forms of communication, we are still more likely to have walking(prenominal) ties with people who live in closer geographical proximity to us. Friendship is dynamic it may become deeper or fade as we enter different stages of the life course nonetheless as Pahl claims it does change meaning and functions throughout the life course.Patterns of peoples friendships throughout the life course are structured around, peoples social and economic circumstances which influence their opportunities for social involvement. Different aspects of structural location such as work situation and domestic situation alter during the li fe course and change the meaning and function of friendships. Friendship is also linked to broader social and economic factors, and individuals immediate social environment influences who they come in contact with and thus who they build friendships with. Word Count 1,575.