Papapolydorou, Maria (2014) 'When you see a normal person …': Social class and friendship networks among teenage students. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35 (4). pp. 559-577. ISSN 0142-5692 (Print), 1465-3346 (Online) (doi:10.1080/01425692.2013.782811)

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Abstract

This paper draws on social capital theory to discuss the way social class plays out in the friendships of teenage students. Based on data from individual interviews and focus groups with 75 students in four London secondary schools, it is suggested that students tend to form friendships with people who belong to the same social-class background as them. Social-class 'sameness' is considered to be an element that importantly exemplifies the quality of their friendships, hence, close, inter-class friendships were significantly less common than close, intra-class ones. In addition, class differentials were evident and often reproduced by students, even in the context of the rarer inter-class friendships. This paper concludes that social class is of continuous importance in teenagers’ lives and despite some agentic negotiation of class boundaries, as in the case of omnivorousness, students’ friendship networks are dynamically informed by class inequalities.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in British Journal of Sociology of Education on 27 Apr 2013, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01425692.2013.782811.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	social networks, friendships, social class, Bourdieu, social capital, omnivorousness
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races L Education > L Education (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Education (EDU)
Last Modified:	31 Jul 2017 11:29
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/9924

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