Niobe Way

A developmental analysis of adolescents growing up in an inner-city, working class lifeWhat does it mean to be a teenager in an American city at the close of the twentieth century? How do urban surroundings affect the ways in which teens grow up, and what do their stories tell us about human development? In particular, how do the negative images of themselves on television and in the n

In this issue, we present findings from four studies that employed qualitative methodology to gain insight into the how and the why of close friendships. "How" do adolescents experience trust and intimacy in their friendships? "Why" are these relational experiences critical for emotional adjustment? And "how" does the social and cultural context shape the ways in which adolescents experience their

“Boys are emotionally illiterate and don’t want intimate friendships.” In this empirically grounded challenge to our stereotypes about boys and men, Niobe Way reveals the intense intimacy among teenage boys especially during early and middle adolescence. Boys not only share their deepest secrets and feelings with their closest male friends, they claim that without them they would go “wacko.” Yet a

A childhood development psychologist argues that the much-debated problem with men begins with subjecting boys to toxic masculine stereotypes—and explains how we can change direction.Boys are less sensitive than girls. Boys don't need emotional intimacy. Boys are rational, intelligent, and competitive. Boys will be boys. . . . Assumptions like these maintain “boy culture.” This reality push