2004) 'Relational Discourses: Social ties with family and friends

This article presents quantitative and qualitative accounts of relational discourses in a random sample of approx 4,100 texts written by Irish young people (aged 10-12 and 14-17 years). The existence of such discourses is indicated by references to family and friends. It shows that although the majority refer to such ties in their texts, less than one third mention best friends. It also shows that references to such relational discourses was affected by age and gender. A continuum of relatedness can be identified: with 10-12 year old girls being at one end of the continuum and 14-17 year old boys being at the other end. The implications of such trends are briefly discussed