Dunphy's Formation of Social Groups (1963)

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Dexter Dunphy (1963) engaged in participant observation, whereby he followed up contacts with young people in their various social settings. He tried not to interrupt their conversations and dressed casually (in the same style as the young people). Dunphy made observations about the structure and functions of groups of young people. The observations remain undisputed.

Dunphy found that in early adolescence (Stage 1), young people formed cliques, usually small groups of the same sex. Each clique was relatively isolated from the others. These cliques met often to plan social activities and share secrets and gossip. Membership requires conformity (particularly in terms of dress) and their is often a group member whether it is realised or not. In order to have continued membership with the clique it is required that members share similar rates of progress in establishing and forming close personal relationships with members of the opposite sex.Crowds formed in Stage 2 when these unisex cliques interacted with one another. You had to belong to a clique before you could belong to a crowd. Crowd activities commonly seen on weekends, at the beach, shopping malls, parties etc. In Stage 3 there were changes in the structure of the crowd with the higher ranking clique members forming heterosexual cliques- reflects the start of the process of dating.

By stage 4 there was a fully developed crowd, composed of a number of couples in close association with one another. In Stage 5 couples begin to go their separate ways.

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