The Breakfast Club

14 Pages 3464 Words

social psychology "The lives of adolescents hold a fascination for all of us. We have an enduring faith that the future of our world rests with the young, and so we look to this period of life more than any other for an evaluation of current society and the probable social future" (Ianni 1).

Adolescence is the time of transition between childhood and adulthood-biological development leads to psychological, social and economic changes, toward ever-increasing independence. Adolescence involves the development of a sense of identity; it is a time of questioning of relationships to parents and to peers, and of roles in society.

Relationships with others dwell at the core of the adolescent experience. As teenagers move away from their parents, peer groups play an integral role. Adolescents "place a lot of importance on belonging, on being included, and on being part of a group; group affiliation not only supplies emotional security, but also is a source of status and reputation with motivational properties" The cliques and crowds formed by adolescents define them within in their own social world and to (or against) the adult world as well. The boundaries between these groups can be ambiguous and flexible or extremely rigid and unforgiving. The five students assembled for Saturday detention in "The Breakfast Club" represent five different groups, stereotyped both by their fellow students and the school administrator who is their warden for the day.

In the movie "The Breakfast Club" five young adults are portrayed to a tee, representing a cross cultural view of the teens attending high school in suburban Chicago in 1985. The opening scene of this classic movie shows the five students arriving at school at approximately seven thirty in the morning, Saturday, to serve their punishment, the dreaded Saturday detention that many of us had to submit to. This grievous application of student torture was utilized by school...