Einleitung

Section 4: socialization and youth sport
Peer group experiences can provide youth with opportunities to acquire a range of skills, attitudes, and behaviours that influence their development (Rubin el al, 1998; 2006). Good peer relationships during the teenage years are a marker of social competence (Morison and Masten, 1991) and predictive of healthy development in adulthood (Parker and Asher, 1987). Peer group experiences may also represent some of the most meaningful aspects of participation in youth sport. For instance, youth sport provides individuals with opportunities to expand their social networks, develop friendships and learn a range of social skills, such as how to work with other people (e.g. Holt et al., 2009; Holt et al., 2008). Given the achievement demands often associated with sport, combined with the unique public nature of performances and the prominent roles played by parents and coaches, youth sport provides a particularly interesting social context in which to study peer group experiences (cf. Weiss and Stuntz, 2004). Compared to coach and parental influence, peer group experiences in youth sport remain relatively unexplored. Indeed, as Smith (2003) suggested, ‘it is puzzling the degree to which research on peers has paled in comparison [to research on coaches and parents] given the relevance of these social agents and the vast array of research questions that could be pursued. Fortunately, however, a body of research has emerged examining various aspects of peer group experiences in youth sport. Detailed and thorough reviews of peer group experiences in sport have been published elsewhere (e.g. Smith, 2007; Smith and McDonough, 2008; Weiss and Stuntz, 2004). In order to build on and complement these existing reviews, this chapter discusses the peer group experiences in youth sport literature using a framework of social complexity (Rubin et al., 1998; 2006).