'Always being there for each other:adolescent girls' experiences of their same-sex friendships in a Western Cape boarding school

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: Previous research identified same-sex friendships as a protective factor for adolescent girls' mental well-being, while a lack thereof is associated with depression and lower levels of self-esteem among adolescent girls. Yet, adolescent girls' friendships have received scant attention in the South African literature. The majority of research in this field seems to be quantitative in nature and tends to focus on adverse friendship influences and the associated risk factors for adolescent girls. This qualitative study aimed to explore how a group of South African adolescent girls experience their same-sex friendships. Further aims were to investigate the nature of these friendships; possible protective and/or risk factors operating within these friendships; and how the girls negotiated their positions in the friendship group.Ten, 15 to 16-year-old White middle- to upper-class girls, resident in an all girls' boarding school in the Western Province, South Africa, participated in this study. I collected the data by means of individual in-depth semi-structured interviews and used thematic analysis to analyse the data inductively with ATLAS.ti software. This study was conducted within an interpretivist research paradigm and I used relational-cultural theory as lens to understand the girls' friendship experiences. Ethical approval for this study was provided by Stellenbosch University's Research Ethics Committee, the Western Cape Educational Department, and the school principal involved.I identified three key themes from the data: (1) The nature of adolescent girls' friendships, (2) idealising the friendship, and (3) friendship as a support system. The participants described how they started to think more about their friendships in adolescence and reflected on how different friendships could meet their personal needs. Emphasis was given to empathy and reciprocity as key to the girls' experiences of feeling supported by their friends. Supportive acts included listening to and providing a friend with advice, humour, and identity validation. Even though adolescence seems to be accompanied with more intimate and satisfying friendships, these girls also noted how boyfriends, jealousy, and a popularity hierarchy, introduced challenges in their friendships. Additionally, due to the demands of 'niceness, the girls at times would avoid behaviours that could cause conflict or hurt a friend's feelings, thus devaluing their own experiences for the sake of maintaining an ideal harmonious friendship. Being unable to live up to the demands of being an ideal friend often left the girl feeling guilty, disappointed, or burdened, created tension in the friendship, and could affect the quality of the friendship.The findings of this study provide deeper insight into the workings of adolescent girls' same-sex friendships in South Africa. These girls' interpretations of rigid femininity ideals seemingly create barriers to the formation of meaningful friendships and highlights the need to equip girls with skills to effectively deal with conflict and differences amongst friends. On the other hand, this study also illustrates how compassionate, reciprocal, and empathetic friendships could contribute towards psychological resilience. Such friendships create supportive environments in which adolescent girls can work through their personal struggles and the challenges associated with adolescence.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University