On Friendship

The mundane, the existential, and the poetic

“…Kinship ties are seen as more significant and important to the developmental process (Hutter, 2001). Yet, friendships are essential for healthy growth and development.…”

SocialWork Practice Innovations: Helping Clients Understand, Explore, and Develop Their Friendships

“…While social work has done an admirable job of highlighting the necessity of family, community, and other social support relationships, the importance of friendships has been largely ignored in social work practice literature. This is lamentable since supportive friendships have been shown to be essential for psychosocial development (Clark & Ayers, 1991;Hartup, 1979Hartup, , 1983Hartup, & 1989Hutter, 2001;Linden, 2003;Roff, 1963), school and social functioning (Flannagan & Bradley, 1999), emotional health (Asher & Paquette, 2003), and lead to resiliency in many client populations (Berndt, 1989;Fraser, 1997;Miller & Fritz, 1998). As managed care and privatization have led to sharp decreases in the number and scope of services for many clients (Dorwart & Epstein, 1993;Dumont, 1996), social workers must rely on different types of natural social supports in helping restore clients to equilibrium and optimal functioning.…”

Students who struggle with literacy in the print culture of high school: exploring strategies for success

“…To a certain extent, Pahl's ideas mirror two of Aristotle's three defining characteristics of friendship -that is, friends who are useful or friends who give us pleasure -but Pahl sees the concept of a virtuous, altruistic friend who mirrors the self as far less likely to appear in today's less stable time than that of Aristotle (Hutter, 2001). For one thing, we value individuality far more today, and this weakens the glue binding a cohesive society.…”