The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - 84

Diane D. Everett • Zachary V. Loftus

rules objectively and impartially, regardless of the nature of their personal relationships. Yet residents are also RAs’ peers and sometimes their friends in student social networks. RAs’ relationships with their residents are formed at the most basic level by sharing a living space and having frequent contact with them, both in professional and personal capacities. Thus, conflict may arise from unclear boundaries between the two roles. Like the RAs in Schaller and Wagner’s (2007) inquiry, this study revealed that most of the questionnaire respondents were friends with some of their residents, especially those on their own floors. All of the interviewees stated that they wanted to befriend residents and to fit in with them. Nevertheless, status differences between some of the RAs and their residents hindered the formation of true peer relationships and created distance between them. When explicitly asked how often they experienced role conflict—specifically, how often they felt torn between their role as friend and their role as an RA when it came to enforcing university policies with their residents— most RAs were aware of it, and half indicated that they experienced this type of role conflict sometimes or often. Their conflict was not necessarily a function of their individual characteristics (e.g., class year or level of experience) or interpersonal relationships alone, but derived from their dilemma to fulfill competing behavioral expectations. That is, RAs’ concurrent statuses as rule enforcers and peers/friends, in relation to their residents, created contradictory expectations from university residential life administrators and from student peers. Their role conflict stemmed from the social structures in which RAs were located, the in84

compatible expectations accompanying their clashing statuses as rule enforcers and friends, and relationship factors that colored how RAs interacted with residents and handled infractions (Andersen & Taylor, 2008; Rubington, 1990). For instance, just over half of the questionnaire respondents noted that it was somewhat or quite difficult to write up residents with whom they were more familiar, with only a small minority claiming that it was not at all difficult to do so. Those RAs who claimed to have no problem enforcing the rules, despite friendships with residents, engaged in role distancing as a way to handle the situation, by emphasizing their professional obligations over their personal relationships. Their comments revealed not only RAs’ awareness of the competing and incompatible expectations associated with the two roles, but also their ability to put aside their friendships in order to fulfill their job requirements. When RAs remarked

When explicitly asked how often they experienced role conflict—— specifically, how often they felt torn between their role as friend and their role as an RA when it came to enforcing university policies with their residents——most RAs were aware of it, and half indicated that they experienced this type of role conflict sometimes or often .

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING



The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2
Contents
Letter from the Editor
Training Resident Assistants to Make Effective Referrals to Counseling
Professional Development Needs for New Residential Life Professionals
Structural Analysis of the Resident Assistant Cultural Diversity Questionnaire
Recent Alumni Perceptions of Hall Government Leadership Learning
Resident Assistants as Rule Enforcers Versus Friends: An Exploratory Study of Role Conflict
College Housing Dissertations: A Bounded Qualitative Meta-Study
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Intro
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Contents
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Letter from the Editor
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Training Resident Assistants to Make Effective Referrals to Counseling
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Professional Development Needs for New Residential Life Professionals
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Structural Analysis of the Resident Assistant Cultural Diversity Questionnaire
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Recent Alumni Perceptions of Hall Government Leadership Learning
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - Resident Assistants as Rule Enforcers Versus Friends: An Exploratory Study of Role Conflict
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - College Housing Dissertations: A Bounded Qualitative Meta-Study
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