前青年期の親しい同性友人関係"chumship"の心理学的意義について : 発達的・臨床的観点からの検討

Abstract

It is said that same sex friendship is important for psychological development during preadolescence. Sullivan (1953) called this "chumship" and suggested its both developmental and psychotherapeutic significance. What nature of this relationship is developmentally supportive and psychotherapeutic? In this thesis, some aspects of chumship that are considered to be developmentally supportive and psychotherapeutic were discussed. First, developmentally supportive points were as follows; 1. Chumship plays protective role during transitional period. 2.Chumship gives the sense of security and modeling function. 3. Chum becomes the medium between internal and external world. Second, some aspects considered to be psychotherapeutic were as follows; 1. Sharing experience between the two promotes "consensual validation". 2. Chumship makes humane and empathetic environment. 3.Chumship provides an isomorphic experience between the two, and enable one to meet the inner self through the relationship with the other, and 4. Chumship can provide corrective emotional experience. On the other hand, it is suggested that the psychodynamics of identification contain an emotionally an1bivalent nature, so one can feel attachment and hostility to the same person. Some psychopathological phenomenon concerning chumship, for example, "hysterie a deux" in adolescence, were discussed. Thus, the nature of churnship was discussed from various aspects in this thesis.