Cliques are social groups often found in middle or high school, usually among girls. They can also exist among adults and can be called a “set”. Cliques can lead to power struggles, peer pressure, and bullying of those outside the group. They may have a leader and can form around common interests. Those outside the group may feel left out and may be targeted by members. Some cliques can be harmless, while others can be destructive.
A clique is a social group most often seen in middle or high school and generally more often noticed among girls than boys. However, adults can certainly belong to a clique as well, and one might see these characteristics displayed particularly in the upper echelons of society. The group of adults could also be called a “set.”
Typically, the clique is organized among the younger children by those who seem to have enough in common for them to befriend each other. Unfortunately, friendship can quickly give way to power struggles, peer pressure, and ostracization of those outside the group. Indeed, strangers targeted by a clique can be subjected to name calling and bullying, which can be psychologically damaging.
Often the group has a definite leader, although the leadership may change from time to time. The clique may extend informal membership to younger girls in order to perpetuate it beyond the original members who remain in a particular school setting. This group may be seen as “in the crowd” and may have a corresponding male group with whom they exclusively socialize.
While it is often thought that there can only be one clique in a school setting, cliques can organize themselves along lines of interest. For example, cheerleaders can form one group while kids in the band can form another. Socially, tweens and adolescents appear to cluster within areas of interest or access to each other. A clique may start out innocently enough with families that are in the same social group or simply live close enough to each other that they set up frequent play dates when the kids are young.
There is a difficulty for those who are outside any definite grouping. A non-cheerleader, non-band kid may be challenged by not finding a large enough social group and may be desperate to join a certain clique. This can be painful and can make the person a target of his members.
A bad part of this power structure can involve bullying, harassing, or playing pranks on non-clique members. The fear of no longer being part of the group can force children to behave in ways that are immensely harmful to others. An inability to get along with leaders, often called “queen bees,” can lead to becoming an outcast.
Many films have documented this type of infrastructure and its potentially destructive force in a social context. Movies like Mean Girls, Heathers and Jawbreaker all take a darkly comic take on the clique. Those who have been victimized by their politics, many find cliques no laughing matter.
While some cliques may act in petty and emotionally destructive ways towards outsiders, others are far less threatening. Not all cliques or members choose to rule by being cruel to other people. They may simply not notice the needs of strangers, which is often an insensitive, but not uncommon, position of teenagers.
Cliques in their most innocent form may simply represent a group of friends who are envied for their social graces, wealth, or attractive qualities. The exclusive nature of the group is rather similar to a sisterhood in this respect. It can still be painful for those who wish to belong on the outside, but it may not be intentionally so.
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