Playground romance: An ethnographic study of friendship and romance in children's relationship cultures.

Mellor, David James. 2006. Playground romance: An ethnographic study of friendship and romance in children's relationship cultures. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

This thesis explores the prominence of romance and romantic love in the relationship cultures of a cohort of children aged between 10 and 12. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork that took place at three primary schools and one high school over the period of a year, it examines the various ways that the children invested in and understand romance and romantic love during the significant rite-of-passage of the transfer between primary and secondary educational phases. Using qualitative and ethnographic methods - including participant observation, group interviews, story and diary writing - rich forms of spoken, written and pictorial data were gathered. These are discussed and analysed with reference to sociological theories of sexuality, friendship and social solidarity. Although the research was situated in schools, it is important to highlight that this was a cultural, rather than an educational study. It shows that romance was a key part of the children's negotiations of their own and others identities and relationships, and that this was shaped in powerful ways by discourses of gender, sexuality and social class. Key points of discussion include: the development of the concept of Tietero-sociality' as a way of discussing how heterosexual practices shape children's everyday lives the differences between girls' and boys' articulations of and investments in romance how romance shapes friendship practices, particularly *best' friendships how understandings of and investments in romantic love are classed and gendered the importance of gendered sexuality during the transfer between primary and secondary schooling and in children's conceptions of the life-course and, the use of the adult researcher's 'ethnographic self as a tool for investigating the personal relationships, friendship cultures and solidarities of children and young people.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
ISBN:	9781303207860
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	12 Feb 2016 23:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/56146

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