4 - Friends and Social Networks

Summary

Whilst it may be relatively easy to see the impact of dramatic social changes on regulations about contact between the sexes or on divorce, less immediately obvious are the impacts of these changes on friendships and social networks. Yet the manner in which social solidarities have emerged in response to the pressures of “modern life,” as well as the apparent decline of social relationships in an era of individualism, have also been the subject of speculation by many social scientists – even when there have been few data to support their views. Consequently, we find ourselves faced with the familiar debate between those who argue that the modern world pulls apart loyalties and intimacies and those who posit that it is the very challenges of a harsh and unforgiving outside world that reinforces those loyalties.

PATTERNS OF FRIENDSHIP OVER TIME

“Friendship” is a difficult word to define and is likely to cover a whole range of informal relationships. In addition, the meaning of friendship has changed over time (Adams, 2004; Pahl, 2000). Pahl (2000) has traced the development of friendship since antiquity. The Aristotelian notion of friendship, which divided friendships of pleasure and utility from the more “whole-person” friendship of virtue, was primarily framed in terms of male friendship. Pahl notes that despite claims that modernity has destroyed old patterns of virtuous friendships, writings dating back at least eight centuries have demonstrated the instrumental notion of friendship and, in particular, the utility of friends for finding work and performing other practical tasks.