During the last three decades, developmental research has increasingly emphasized the relevance of peer relations in children's socialization. However, most studies of child development still focus upon individual differences in social status, tacitly neglecting relational constraints inherent in the ecology of the peer group. In contrast, socioethological approaches have stressed that natural groups provide a variety of distinct social roles that may have a differential impact upon individual growth and development. However, ethological analyses have often been limited to aggressive relations and group dominance structures. Comparable studies of affiliative organization have been hampered by the paucity of models for the study of cohesive social structure, only recently having begun to overcome this obstacle. A potential third dimension of preschool peer group ethology, object use, has been relatively neglected in studies of peer relations. However, recent research suggests that object use is a salient and important component of the social world of the young child. This article reviews methodology and recent findings in the area of peer relations and discusses the developmental implications of this work.

No abstract

No abstract

Cet article se veut une réflexion conceptuelle sur les enjeux du développement, à partir de deux grandes métathéories contemporaines en sciences humaines : la psychobiologie et la sociogenèse. Où doit-on placer la continuité du développement?…à l'intérieur de l'individu ou de son environnement? Malgré la reconnaissance explicite des expériences sociales dans le développement, le vieux débat entre l'inné et l'acquis persiste et conduit, invariablement, à une vaine tentative d'intégration des deux positions. Le modèle métathéorique présenté suggère, non pas l'intégration, mais la reconnaissance et l'utilisation de l'interdépendance entre les différentes métathéories qui permettent d'aborder la continuité et la discontinuité, comme les deux facettes complémentaires du développement.