School and neighborhood friendship patterns of blacks and whites in early adolescence

• Published in: Child development Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 524 - 536
• Main Authors: DuBois, D.L, Hirsch, B.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA University of Chicago Press 01.04.1990; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: 4-H Youth Development Program; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescents; African Americans - psychology; age differences; Biological and medical sciences; Black people; Black White Differences; Black white relations; Blacks; Children; Children & youth; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Developmental psychology; Education; Elementary schools; Ethnic Neighborhoods; Female; Friendship; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gender differences; Gender Identity; High schools; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; interracial friendships; Junior High Schools; Male; Midwestern States; Neighborhood schools; neighborhoods; Peer Group; Peer Relations; peer relationships; Personal relationships; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Race relations; schools; Social Environment; Social research; Social Support; White people; Whites; youth development; United States; Human; Social environment; Choice; Peer relation; United States; Sex; Negroid; North America; School environment; Friendship; Social interaction; America; Adolescent; Race; Caucasoid; Social support
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1131112

This research examined the school and neighborhood friendships of 292 black and white children who attended an integrated junior high school. Most students reported having a close other-race school friend, but only 28% of the sample saw such a friend frequently outside of school. Reports of an interracial school friendship that extended to nonschool settings were significantly more common among black students than whites and among children who lived in integrated neighborhoods rather than segregated ones. Race differences in reported friendship behavior were also found on other friendship variables. Compared to whites, blacks reported more extensive neighborhood friendship networks but indicated that they talked to fewer friends during the school day. In addition, the study replicated prior findings that white girls report more peer social support than white boys but failed to find a gender difference in peer support among blacks. The discussion emphasizes the importance of the school/nonschool ecology and the need for further comparative study of white and black children's friendship patterns.