DYNAMICS OF INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION IN PREADOLESCENT CLIQUES

A critical structural form organizing the social arrangement of childrens's lives is the clique. This primary group colors the character of children's preadolescent years and shapes their socialization to adult life. In this paper we draw on longitudinal participant observation and on depth interviews with advanced elementary-school children to explore the central feature of clique dynamics: the techniques of inclusion and exclusion. Cliques are circles of power wherein leaders attain and wield influence over their followers by cyclically building them up and cutting them down, first drawing them into the elite inner circle and allowing them to bask in the glow of popularity and acceptance, and then reducing them to positions of dependence and subjugation by turning the group against them. We conclude by discussing the generic features of these inclusionary and exclusionary dynamics, the characteristics of this cyclical pattern, the implications of this socializing experience for the broader societal dynamics of power and manipulation, and the kind of in-group/out-group differentiation that call lead to prejudice and discrimination.