ABSTRACT
The social landscape occupied by friendship ties, especially among men, include public or semi-public domains-streetcorner, bayside, pier, bridge, and rum shop. What the Leeward Village material shows is that what needs to be recognized is that friendship is not limited to men either in regard to existential satisfaction or social recognition; West Indian women and children also form intense and satisfying relationships with peers and patrons, neighbors and acquaintances. Friendship always contains varying combinations of several features-affection, intimacy, volition, a supra- or extra-kinship recruitment basis, instrumentality-and, therefore, should not be distinguished solely by a single referent. Close village friendship is an informal, voluntary relationship between members of the same sex. Many friendships, especially among men, have been extant since early childhood. Close friendship with its broad and deep affective base also provides its partners with psychological support and emotional release, approval for belief and action, and a sense of personal worth and dignity.
