Friendship processes - Fehr, Beverley Anne (Sage Publications, 1996)
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-227) and indexes
The meaning of friendship -- Theories of friendship -- Friendship formation -- Achieving closeness -- Gender issues in friendship -- Friendship maintenance -- Deterioration and dissolution
Friendship Processes examines how friends give meaning to our lives and why we rely so heavily on them. Broad in its coverage, the book is process oriented and research based with each phase of the friendship process documented by empirical research. The result is a conceptual framework that illuminates the fascinating components of how we make friends, how we become close, how we maintain friends, and how friendships deteriorate and dissolve. Author Beverley Fehr equips the reader with valuable knowledge about the formations and continuations of the intriguing personal relationship called friendship. Friendship Processes also illustrates well the fact that, as a field of study, close relationships is maturing rapidly. Promising to be the definitive study of the subject for many years to come, this book will be of particular interest to students, practitioners, and researchers in social psychology, sociology, communication, family studies, and social work as well as any interested reader who is eager to deepen his or her understanding and appreciation of a very engaging topic