ABSTRACT
Clinical experience of work with adolescents does indeed make clear the importance of close supportive friendships in the processes of growth towards independence and maturity. Certainly facing up to differences and conflicts between the generations, including rivalries and feelings of envy on both sides, would allow for healthier forms of struggle and promote development. The distinctions between clubs, gangs, and families, at times illuminating, can, however, sometimes seem to be relatively superficial and fluctuating. The formation of groups within the larger society may operate at levels of splitting that have the function of idealizing the 'in-group' and projecting all the negative features into the 'out-group'. The chapter describes a study of both matching and cross-cultural work with adolescents belonging to varying minority groups. Volatility may exacerbate the difficulties, as parents can feel that they have been misled or let down when they are suddenly confronted with some erratic change of mood.
