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

In many western societies, companionship is portrayed in a very positive and desirable light, and most of all more or lessthing nation catch the freedom to choose, unlike kinship. However as examined further in this essay, experience means and kneads as many contrastive things to different tribe and erect be influenced by an array of different inclineer factors. on that point be various stages in the life history- running that provide both opportunities and threats to the modernisement and maintenance of associations, heretofore it is evident that friendship does change and evolve in meaning and race through the life track down. Some sociologists believe that tender change has unnatural the signifi seatce of friendship, and therefrom changed its function throughout the life course. Due to social change, select and reciprocity deliver accommodate highly valued in relationships which is expected in todays post-industrial society.Many see the traditional nuclea r family as diminishing. This stool be explained by the soulisation thesis (Giddens 1992, Ulrich Beck and Beck Gersheim 1995), who argue that set traditions and social rules ar in decline, thus expectant rise to voluntarism and democracy distinct from kinship which lav be recognize in the notion of the pure relationship (Giddens 1992). Therefore friendship croup be seen as the ideal relationship in society differing untold from the fixed or given relationships with kin and the community, which atomic number 18 seen to be declining in entailment.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 such as increasing cohabitation, divorce rates, greater social and geographic mobility, increasing levels of female education, increased participation of females in the labour market, and the harvest of non-heterosexual household arrangements along with a strong sense of individualis tization have led to families of choice.This social suffusion of family and friends is particularly evident amongst non-heterosexuals, ascribable to their elimination from the family and marriage in which they havent received support from families theyve elect their own networks of relationships c erstwhileived as families. However it is of the essence(p) not to overstate the significance of friendship comp ard to relationships with family with often empirical evidence stating family relationships inactive remain significant.Firstly, it is important to complete that there isnt a single universal explanation 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 be many different forms of friendships, ranging from diverse and complex friendships which are ever-changing and evolving. Whether it is those we file in our address b ooks to those who have a laboured presence in our lives.People attach the label friend to those whom theyve manifestly had a pleasant association with or as for as those who theyve shared a lifelong relationship with. Some believe it is the valuing of the former(a) mortal for whatever is perceived as their unique and pleasing qualities (Wright 1978), which is said to be a defining reference bookistic. Research into what friendship means, reveals friendship as be 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 enter 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 accomplishs, prefer friends and a fun friend which are categorized as a simple friend, which range s to a helpmate, comforter, confidant and a soul mate which pull in towards a complex friendship.Research has found that the degree of intimacy of a friendship is affected by the amount of time friends have cognize each other. Furthermore, Pahl and Spencer categories the types of friendships plurality 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 strengthen in meaning whereas some even tend to catch lost ad fade away 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, moving home and retiring etc, can provide brand-new opportunities for friendship whilst even threaten existing ones. human relationship ties and especially primary kinship ties generally co ntinue in some form, whereas change in friendship is routine and normal. Indeed some friendships are long-term with some even life-long, although for the majority this isnt the case.Usually friends affiance similar social positions to one another tending to be the said(prenominal) age, be of a similar class position, kindred gender and ingest similar positions in the life course. Friendships are active in trusted 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, therefore sustaining that relationship becomes difficult. There are a variety of national circumstances that can affect 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 primordial to their lives and be replaced by other couple friendships (Cohen 1992), this is how couples create a matrimonial relationship in which togetherness and mutual involvement is paramount. Along with this is sharing vacant and sociability therefore maintaining friendships with those who are single becomes difficult.Not only that tho divorce can also dramatically alter friendship, for men the upshot may be less who will continue to be gnarled in the same work and leisure activities whereas women with children, their friendships patterns will alter more significantly due a change in their social, economic and home(prenominal) circumstances (Milardo 1987). Similarly shifts can occur in friendship when children are born, the aspects of family life will affect the incident 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 f riends who are at different stages of their life course become less involved and are replaced by others who share a similar social position. In the same way, caring 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 paid 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 member 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 reduced 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 social location. For instance, if mortal was to gain a promotion at work it could affect their friendship ties.Not only that but with the idea of work as person is in a different position within a hierarchy, they may have authority over others and thus increased earning capacity and an regeneration of their life-style, maintaining existing friends becomes difficult especially as friendship is seen to be establish on equality. Despite friendship being based on appetite and trust and not on location 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 situation affects the opportunities they have in meeting others as well as the resources of time, capital and energy they have for sociability (Allen 1989). The demands and organization of a persons work can al so pattern their friendships both inside and removed the workplace. For example, different shift patterns, different levels 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 mind that due advances in technology, email and social networking increase the possibility of forming friendships with prospect to face conversation being absent. Yet, despite these new forms of communication, we are still more likely to have closer 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 involvemen t. opposite aspects of structural location such as work situation and domestic situation alter during the life 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.