ABSTRACT
The reasons for studying children’s relations with their peers mirror the reasons for studying child development in general. Adler and Adler (1998) classify the reasons for studying childhood into two main categories. The first category is the study of children because they are considered ‘incomplete adults’ (Adler and Adler, 1998, p. 6, see also Qvotrop, 1990). From that perspective, one studies children’s lives in order to understand how childhood experiences contribute to the understanding of the same individuals as adults. According to Adler and Adler, this involves the assumption that adulthood is the most important period of life. Childhood is just a transitional period from which one graduates into real life. Adherents of this point of view typically devote considerable attention to how adults prepare children for their future roles in adulthood. They often view children as passive recipients of the teachings of adults.
