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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
3 pages in length. Social groups play an integral role in establishing a positive self-image as well as learning how to interact with others. However, there are some types of groups that can actually be more detrimental to students' social skills when they isolate and incorrectly define their members in others' eyes. Cliques - groups of a select few who share a common characteristic - can work in either direction, with some like academic clubs helping to bring out an otherwise socially inexperienced student, while others like a collection of the most popular girls serves to classify them as elitists who consider others below them. The way cliques are fashioned makes the difference between whether they prove beneficial or harmful to students' social skills. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: LM1_TLCcliques.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
when they isolate and incorrectly define their members in others eyes. Cliques - groups of a select few who share a common characteristic - can work in either direction,
with some like academic clubs helping to bring out an otherwise socially inexperienced student, while others like a collection of the most popular girls serves to classify them as elitists
who consider others below them. The way cliques are fashioned makes the difference between whether they prove beneficial or harmful to students social skills (Ennett et al, 2000). The
difference between friendship groups and cliques is primarily what draws them together. Cliques are composed of a specific - often superficial - element that separates their members from all
other students. Giannetti et al (2008) point out how cliques are akin to social power; "as peers divide up, children form into cliques around a leader or two and
the pack lets it be known that not everybody is welcome" (Giannetti et al, 2008). By contrast, friendship groups do not rely upon some specific component to define
their connection but rather incorporate a multitude of shared characteristics such as hobbies and interests. Thus, adolescents choose those more like themselves with whom to be friends, because there
already exists an inherent level of comfort upon which such influence can reside. If there is nothing inherently in common among the youths, there is no basis for a
peer connection. Friendship groups are open to anyone, while cliques are restricted to only those who are accepted by virtue of the defining quality. Moeller (2001) points out
how a certain type of clique is more detrimental to social skills than its counterpart; the nonstandard element of deviant cliques is such that they are antisocial in character and
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