This paper will address two separate studies. The first is a PhD study, including disabled and non-disabled young people in English schools. This provides insights on peer group processes and self-identity, in relation to a continuum of integrationist and segregative practices. As part of a wider study (Wilde,2004a), this project demonstrated how young people forge relationships according to variables of impairment and gender (Wilde,2004), emphasising perceived similarities (homophily) in impairment or 'special needs' status. It demonstrated the significance of the degree and quality of social interactions between disabled and non-disabled pupils, in promoting inclusion. Accordingly, the second part of the paper discusses an extension of this work into an inclusion study. This focuses upon the social impacts of inclusion on children with special educational needs (SEN) and their mainstream peers in primary schools. The study also seeks to identify those educational practices which shape the success of inclusionary strategies. The concept of "homophily" is taken forward to inform a mapping of the social positioning, friendships and self-esteem of all students, evaluating the extent of, and potential for, inclusion between groups. Using focus groups and diary methods, the PhD research involved an examination of group negotiations of 'collective self' and more personal self articulations. This evidence highlighted processes which contribute to the negotiation of group dynamics within mainstream educational contexts, focussing upon pupils' interactions within various milieux. Secondly, for the inclusion project, a methodology of sociometric, self-report and complementary qualitative techniques is proposed, providing a multi-layered understanding of the relationships between children's experiences of the school lifeworld and the application of teaching and wider school practices. The PhD study demonstrated that there were marked disparities in self-esteem and attitudes towards impairment, disability and difference or diversity between segregated, integrationist and mainstream schools. The study's findings emphasised the significance of homophilic relationships between peers in shaping their everyday experiences of education. Disabled pupils tended to forge stronger bonds and have greater hostility towards segregation. Conversely, there was strong evidence that disabled pupils were often 'misrecognised' (Fraser,1995) within integrationist and mainstream settings.This and other qualitative studies (Davis and Watson, 2002) have indicated the pressing need to conduct further investigation into processes of social group formation, cohesion and maintenance in educational contexts. Whilst they have been valuable in articulating personal perceptions and accounts of school experience, qualitative studies are limited in capacity for understanding the dynamics of group affiliation and links to institutional structures and processes. It is our contention that such experiences can be better understood within a broader framework of social networks and associated aspects of school culture. The development of the inclusion agenda over the past few years makes such investigation especially timely. Further study in this area will provide valuable insights into how boundaries between students are identified and negotiated. Broadly, it is expected that the evidence will confirm the positive effects of an inclusive school culture (measured in conjunction with the Index for Inclusion, 2000) on the quality of social interaction amongst pupils and increased degrees of self-esteem. Booth, T and Ainscow, M. (2002) Index for Inclusion: Developing learning and participation in schools Bristol: Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education. Davis,J and Watson, N (2002)Countering Stereotypes of Disability: Disabled Children and Resistance, in Shakespeare,T and Corker,M Disability/Postmodernity: Embodying disability theory London: Continuum. Fraser, N (1995) From redistribution to recognition : dilemmas of justice in a 'post-socialist' age, in New Left Review, 212 68-93. Wilde,A (2004) Disabling Masculinity: The isolation of a captive audience, in Disability and Society, 19,4 355-370. Wilde,A (2004a) Performing Disability, in King, M and Watson, K (eds) Representing health Basingstoke: Palgrave. National or European educational research journal